M&G PLC Cuts Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

M&G PLC decreased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 88.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 242,631 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 846.5% in the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 118.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB opened at $47.29 on Friday. 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 $73.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.01. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total transaction of $1,260,955.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 226,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,607,932.50. This trade represents a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $52.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.55.

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.