Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 6,935 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 271,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,935 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $12,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.02.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE USB opened at $53.48 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.36. The stock has a market cap of $83.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $36.49 and a 12-month high of $53.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.