The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Price Target to $45.00

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) had its target price decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $51.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James raised U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.93.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB opened at $42.77 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $37.81 and a one year high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 14.75%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 52.77%.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,114,246.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 209,482 shares in the company, valued at $9,837,274.72. The trade was a 24.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total transaction of $4,821,579.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,230,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,132,431. This trade represents a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in USB. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,088.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.