Principal Securities Inc. Buys 5,100 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in USB. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 16.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 532,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,401,000 after purchasing an additional 76,914 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 34.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 15,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 3,893 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 6.3% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 6.5% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 9,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% during the third quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 9,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.21.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $47.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $37.81 and a 52 week high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend 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 (DPR) is 52.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total value of $4,821,579.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. The trade was a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665 in the last quarter. 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.