U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Purchased by New England Asset Management Inc.

New England Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the quarter. U.S. Bancorp makes up 1.3% of New England Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. New England Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $8,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth $30,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on USB shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $50.61 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.79. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $36.49 and a fifty-two week high of $51.76. The company has a market cap of $78.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02.

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

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.16%.

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.