Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Makes New Investment in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 18,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $818,000. U.S. Bancorp comprises 0.5% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 33,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 3.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 8,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 35,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Perkins Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Perkins Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,837,573.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,255,515.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total value of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at $6,837,573.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,265 shares of company stock worth $2,535,903 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE USB opened at $44.00 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $68.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $27.27 and a 52 week high of $45.85.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 14.89%. U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on USB shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. TheStreet raised U.S. Bancorp from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Robert W. Baird cut U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Stephens lowered U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.23.

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.