Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Raises Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 91.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,715 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1,088.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 70.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America cut their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.93.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $42.77 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $37.81 and a 1 year high of $53.98. The company has a market cap of $66.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02.

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

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. The trade was a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,451 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,022,140.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,440,751.55. The trade was a 9.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.