U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Sold by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 28.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,900 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.'s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cowen began coverage on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.32 per share, for a total transaction of $186,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $559,800. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 2.8%

U.S. Bancorp stock traded down $1.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.93. 9,466,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,070,042. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $41.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.06. The company has a market capitalization of $66.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $35.18 and a 52-week high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.