U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,183,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 331,580 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.65% of U.S. Bancorp worth $487,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,922,784,000 after buying an additional 15,746,852 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 153.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,949,347 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $374,573,000 after buying an additional 4,807,662 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $146,864,000 after buying an additional 2,821,642 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 109.7% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,531,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $161,491,000 after buying an additional 1,847,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,328,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,164,350,000 after buying an additional 1,796,336 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock traded up $0.34 on Friday, reaching $47.73. The company had a trading volume of 5,398,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,225,730. The firm has a market cap of $74.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $48.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.53. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $37.81 and a 1 year high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 14.75%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Citigroup raised U.S. Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Compass Point raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded U.S. Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.21.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total value of $1,427,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749,006.10. This represents a 23.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value 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 $9,837,274.72. This represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.