Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 5,082 Shares of U.S. Bancorp $USB

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,082 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of USB. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 59.4% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 118.0% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, EVP Souheil Badran sold 23,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total transaction of $1,099,509.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 70,346 shares in the company, valued at $3,259,833.64. The trade was a 25.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on USB shares. Morgan Stanley set a $56.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.26.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $48.00 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $35.18 and a 1 year high of $53.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 16.30%.The business had revenue of $7.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. U.S. Bancorp has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.76%.

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.