U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Position Increased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,763,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 75,104 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of U.S. Bancorp worth $80,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,922,784,000 after acquiring an additional 15,746,852 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 153.0% in 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. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821,642 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,853,000 after buying an additional 2,116,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 2,046,522 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE USB opened at $47.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.03. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $37.81 and a 12 month high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.55.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About U.S. Bancorp

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.