Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 4,438 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 1.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 339,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,438 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $15,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 153.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,949,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,573,000 after purchasing an additional 4,807,662 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.5% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 250,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 12.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 75,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,437,000 after buying an additional 8,272 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 126.1% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 44,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after buying an additional 24,992 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,406,000 after buying an additional 2,988 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on USB. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven investment 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $51.03 on Monday. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $37.81 and a fifty-two week high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $79.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $49.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.26.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.