Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 47,585 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 487,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 47,585 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $22,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth $33,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on USB. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.7 %

U.S. Bancorp stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $50.73. The company had a trading volume of 4,609,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,337,663. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.86. U.S. Bancorp has a 12-month low of $36.49 and a 12-month 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. The firm has a market cap of $79.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) 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. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

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

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business'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 value of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.