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

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,740,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,063 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of U.S. Bancorp worth $73,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,836,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,640,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,056 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 67,125,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,210,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211,815 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 33,937,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,618,948,000 after purchasing an additional 850,763 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 19,485,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $945,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,050,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $815,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670,305 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, Director Aleem Gillani acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $37.32 per share, for a total transaction of $186,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $559,800. The trade was 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. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on USB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.61.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:USB traded down $0.13 on Tuesday, hitting $47.65. The stock had a trading volume of 13,523,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,399,100. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $35.18 and a 1-year high of $53.98. The stock has a market cap of $74.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.99.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 13.02%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. During the same period in the prior 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.