Larson Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 49.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,579 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,328,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,164,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,336 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,869,000 after buying an additional 43,437 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,523,000 after buying an additional 94,841 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after purchasing an additional 325,374 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $478,118,000 after buying an additional 373,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 2.2 %

USB stock opened at $53.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $83.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $36.49 and a 12 month high of $53.93.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.02.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

About U.S. Bancorp

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.