Morgan Stanley Upgrades U.S. Bancorp - Preferred Stock Outlook

In a recent report, Morgan Stanley has upgraded U.S. Bancorp - Preferred Stock from Equal-Weight to Overweight, potentially shaping investor sentiment and stock performance while institutional ownership remains relatively stable.

Date: 01-10-2024

AI Rating: 6

The report highlights an upgrade by Morgan Stanley regarding U.S. Bancorp - Preferred Stock (NYSE: USB.PRQ). This upgrade from Equal-Weight to Overweight suggests a more favorable outlook from Morgan Stanley, potentially leading to increased investor interest and a positive impact on stock prices.

Institutional Ownership: The report mentions that 14 funds or institutions hold positions in U.S. Bancorp - Preferred Stock, with an average portfolio weight of 0.26%, reflecting a 16.97% increase. However, despite this increase, total shares owned by institutions decreased by 1.43% to 4,134K shares. This decline indicates a slight reduction in confidence from institutional investors, which may counterbalance the positive sentiment from the upgrade.

Several ETFs also adjusted their holdings:

PFF - iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF: Decreased by 2.30% with a reduction of 5.33% in portfolio allocation.
PGX - Invesco Preferred ETF: Decreased by 2.31%, reducing allocation by 5.43%.
PGF - Invesco Financial Preferred ETF: Increased by 0.91%, raising allocation by 2.15%.
PFFD - Global X U.S. Preferred ETF: Decreased by 7.45%, lowering allocation by 9.90%.
PSK - SPDR Wells Fargo Preferred Stock ETF: Slightly decreased by 0.86%.

This mixed bag of institutional actions could lead to volatility in stock performance. The overall sentiment remains cautious with a majority of funds having decreased their holdings, which could weigh on stock prices despite the positive upgrade from Morgan Stanley.

Stocks: USB