Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Acquires 2,959 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 5.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 55,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,959 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 18,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 3,182 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.5% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 13,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.6% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 94,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,205,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 200.7% during the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 18,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 12,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 90.3% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 862,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,676,000 after purchasing an additional 409,192 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB opened at $47.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $32.39 and a 1 year high of $50.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.