Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 26,777 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 26,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $20,188,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 276,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,363,000 after acquiring an additional 16,686 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 11.2% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 564,443 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,231,000 after purchasing an additional 56,738 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 73.9% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 314,241 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,570,000 after buying an additional 133,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1,140.5% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 20,382 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 18,739 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on USB. Stephens increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $49.90. 13,570,863 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,047,181. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $46.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.71. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.49 and a 1 year high of $51.76. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

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.