Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,269,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,038,996 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.20% of U.S. Bancorp worth $6,482,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 846.5% during the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 118.4% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $45.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $71.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.10. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $35.18 and a twelve month high of $53.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.69 and a 200 day moving average of $46.21.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.11. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 16.89%.The business had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total value of $1,260,955.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares in the company, valued at $10,607,932.50. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total transaction of $6,508,221.30. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,360,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,041,584.76. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.55.

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.