Banque Pictet & Cie SA Takes $239,000 Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1,088.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 92.8% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on USB shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.21.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE USB opened at $47.73 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $37.81 and a 12 month high of $53.98. The stock has a market cap of $74.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 52.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 30,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total transaction of $1,427,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,790 shares in the company, valued at $4,749,006.10. This trade represents a 23.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,451 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $1,022,140.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,440,751.55. The trade was a 9.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.