Gradient Investments LLC Purchases 2,296 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 48.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,296 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Norges Bank bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $777,524,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 48.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 414.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,789,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,915,000 after acquiring an additional 4,663,518 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $184,733,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position 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 worth $3,210,624,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211,815 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Director Aleem Gillani acquired 5,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $559,800. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB opened at $44.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.03 and a 200 day moving average of $45.50. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.92 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

USB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $57.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.89.

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.