Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 15,984 Shares of U.S. Bancorp $USB

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 8.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 168,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,984 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $8,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 143,269,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,482,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,996 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 36,632,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,650,305,000 after buying an additional 456,890 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $971,285,000. Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 29.8% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 19,331,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,757,000 after acquiring an additional 4,442,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 16,569,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,766,000 after acquiring an additional 585,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Wolfe Research cut U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson raised their target price 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. Barclays lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $52.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,360,414 shares in the company, valued at $63,041,584.76. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 226,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,607,932.50. This represents a 10.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $54.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $85.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.07. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $35.18 and a 12 month high of $56.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.39.

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

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

U.S. Bancorp Profile

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.