U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Purchased by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 32.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,245 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McAdam LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 8,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 65,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% during the second quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 5,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on USB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on 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. StockNews.com raised U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.87.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $48.69 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

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.