Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,206 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in USB. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $1,018,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,836,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,640,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079,056 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.8% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 846,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,704,000 after acquiring an additional 22,803 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 380,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,212,000 after acquiring an additional 38,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. now owns 72,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE USB opened at $42.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.74 and its 200 day moving average is $47.55. The company has a market capitalization of $65.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $37.81 and a fifty-two week high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 52.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on USB. Barclays lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America reduced their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total value of $4,821,579.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,230,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,132,431. The trade was a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 209,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. The trade was a 24.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.