Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Grows Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $777,524,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,787,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,947,000 after acquiring an additional 5,449,949 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 414.1% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,789,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,915,000 after purchasing an additional 4,663,518 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $184,733,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 67,125,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,210,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211,815 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America reduced their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wolfe Research raised U.S. Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.48.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $37.32 per share, for a total transaction of $186,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,800. The trade was a 50.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB opened at $42.01 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.14. The company has a market capitalization of $65.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $35.18 and a fifty-two week high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.50%.

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.