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

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,183,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 331,580 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.65% of U.S. Bancorp worth $487,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in USB. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 532,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,401,000 after acquiring an additional 76,914 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.1% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 20,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.1% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 541,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,752,000 after purchasing an additional 26,281 shares during the period. Lynch & Associates IN increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lynch & Associates IN now owns 65,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,016,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 43,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on USB. Raymond James raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,114,246.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. This trade represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total transaction of $4,821,579.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,230,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,132,431. This represents a 7.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB opened at $47.52 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.50. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The company has a market cap of $74.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.77%.

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.