Stephens Inc. AR Raises Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 301,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $14,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 16.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 401,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,348,000 after acquiring an additional 56,990 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,018,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 846,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,704,000 after buying an additional 22,803 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 184.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 70,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,214,000 after buying an additional 45,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. now owns 72,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after buying an additional 16,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total value of $1,427,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,006.10. This trade represents a 23.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total value of $4,821,579.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,230,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,132,431. This represents a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on USB. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.21.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $47.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $37.81 and a twelve month high of $53.98. The company has a market cap of $73.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.09 and its 200 day moving average is $47.44.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 14.75%. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

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.