Prudential PLC Purchases 26,092 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 101,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,092 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $4,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 34,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 15,864 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 66,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,183,000 after purchasing an additional 13,926 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 12,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $498,000. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $4,102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Raymond James raised U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $43.50 target price (down previously from $51.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. This represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $4,821,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,230,316 shares in the company, valued at $58,132,431. This represents a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $36.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.92 and its 200 day moving average is $47.43. The stock has a market cap of $57.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.91. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $35.74 and a 1-year high of $53.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.44%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 52.77%.

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.