Bessemer Group Inc. Cuts Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 58.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,672 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 91,109 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in USB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 323.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 48,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,309,000 after buying an additional 36,863 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 13,604 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,192 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 6,385 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GenTrust LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on USB. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down previously from $57.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 5,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $37.32 per share, with a total value of $186,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $559,800. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:USB traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $45.79. The stock had a trading volume of 15,749,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,254,536. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $71.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.54. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $35.18 and a 1-year high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 13.02%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.50%.

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.