Nwam LLC Acquires Shares of 119,648 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Nwam LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 119,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,471,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1,140.5% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 20,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 18,739 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 48.2% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 9,903 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,353,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Finally, BOKF NA raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 229,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,107,000 after purchasing an additional 52,684 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $51.99 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $47.48 and a 200-day moving average of $43.96. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $36.49 and a twelve month high of $52.08. The firm has a market cap of $81.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.02.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. This is an increase 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 is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in 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 often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.22.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.