Verus Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Verus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in USB. FMR LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,922,784,000 after acquiring an additional 15,746,852 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 153.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,949,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,573,000 after acquiring an additional 4,807,662 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,821,642 shares during the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $111,274,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 109.7% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,531,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $46.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 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 50-day simple moving average of $47.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.83.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,230,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,132,431. The trade was a 7.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on USB shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.21.

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.