California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,847,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 70,199 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of U.S. Bancorp worth $123,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 136,513,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,513,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,479,642 shares during the period. Mufg Bank LTD. grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 54.1% during the third quarter. Mufg Bank LTD. now owns 68,374,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,260,450,000 after purchasing an additional 24,000,000 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,470,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,238,765,000 after purchasing an additional 674,583 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,120,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,028,859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610,004 shares during the period. Finally, Aristotle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 266.6% during the third quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,467,699 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $775,842,000 after purchasing an additional 17,066,479 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on USB. HSBC upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded U.S. Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.14.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of USB traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.61. 6,548,603 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,786,709. The stock has a market cap of $64.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50-day moving average is $42.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.03. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $27.27 and a 12 month high of $45.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.90%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,837,573.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other U.S. Bancorp news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,837,573.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total value of $1,152,904.71. Following the sale, the insider now owns 144,236 shares in the company, valued at $6,255,515.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

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.