AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 19.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 715,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 177,865 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $30,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE:USB traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.91. 6,976,112 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,091,212. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $68.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $41.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.50. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 14.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 49.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cowen started coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.67.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $37.32 per share, for a total transaction of $186,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $559,800. This represents a 50.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp 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.