R Squared Ltd Sells 16,766 Shares of U.S. Bancorp $USB

R Squared Ltd cut its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 70.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,766 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 59.4% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $30,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $48.31 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.10 and its 200-day moving average is $45.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.06. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $35.18 and a 52 week high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.11. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 16.89%.The business had revenue of $7.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total transaction of $6,508,221.30. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,360,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,041,584.76. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total value of $1,260,955.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares in the company, valued at $10,607,932.50. This trade represents a 10.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.55.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.