Bell Bank Buys Shares of 4,802 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Bell Bank acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821,642 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,438.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,263,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,853,000 after buying an additional 2,116,175 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 313.8% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,698,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,046,522 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1,554.3% in the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,503,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,761,000 after buying an additional 1,412,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 16.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,941,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $310,284,000 after acquiring an additional 967,143 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of USB opened at $51.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $79.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.53. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $35.02 and a 52 week high of $51.76.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.12.

About U.S. Bancorp

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.