Bell Bank Takes $220,000 Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Bell Bank acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of USB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,051,096,000 after acquiring an additional 502,776 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after buying an additional 43,437 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,523,000 after purchasing an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after acquiring an additional 325,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $478,118,000 after purchasing an additional 373,559 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on USB. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB opened at $51.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $79.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.53. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $35.02 and a 1-year high of $51.76.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.