U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Purchased by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,754,984 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 78,064 shares during the quarter. U.S. Bancorp makes up 2.9% of Equity Investment Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Equity Investment Corp owned about 0.18% of U.S. Bancorp worth $125,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note 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 note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE USB traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $50.61. 6,641,359 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,365,327. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $78.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.79. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $36.49 and a 52-week high of $51.76.

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

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. This is a positive change 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 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.