Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Sells 66,671 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lowered its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 12.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 485,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 66,671 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc's holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $22,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 215.7% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,043 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 36,926 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 7.1% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 42,359 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 2,798 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 233,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,452,000 after acquiring an additional 44,624 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $732,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 93.2% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE USB traded up $0.41 on Wednesday, reaching $51.17. 7,128,929 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,340,493. The stock has a market cap of $79.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $35.02 and a 12 month high of $51.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on USB shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.12.

U.S. Bancorp Profile

U.S. Bancorp, a financial services holding company, provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, institutional organizations, governmental entities, and other financial institutions in the United States. It operates through Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; and Treasury and Corporate Support segments.