MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 10,461 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 405,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,461 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $18,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of USB. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 16.0% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 30,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 4,203 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 109.7% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,531,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,000 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 173,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,925,000 after acquiring an additional 9,890 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 4,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.02.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.3 %

USB opened at $53.48 on Thursday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.49 and a 12 month high of $53.98. The company has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.16 and a 200 day moving average of $44.30.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.