J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 7.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of USB. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 93.2% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on USB shares. DA Davidson boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.87.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $48.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.97. The stock has a market cap of $75.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.03. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $30.88 and a 52-week high of $50.47.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.