Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 234,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,293 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $9,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,440,000. Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 760.8% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 83,833 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after buying an additional 74,094 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2,056.5% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 218,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,774,000 after buying an additional 208,528 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,188,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,988,000 after buying an additional 76,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $20,188,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Director Aleem Gillani acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $449,900. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on USB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, June 27th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.18.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $44.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.25. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $30.47 and a 12 month high of $47.31.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.55% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

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.