U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Stock Holdings Lifted by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of USB. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 28,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after buying an additional 8,542 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 325,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,724,000 after acquiring an additional 78,146 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 560,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,069,000 after purchasing an additional 8,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. United Community Bank now owns 49,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 8,796 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $46.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $35.18 and a 1 year high of $53.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.99 and a 200-day moving average of $44.19.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $7.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 16.30%. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Souheil Badran sold 23,727 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total transaction of $1,099,509.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 70,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,259,833.64. This represents a 25.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.50.

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.