Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 1,459 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens increased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.22.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of USB stock opened at $49.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $77.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.49 and a 1 year high of $51.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.