Avestar Capital LLC Purchases 4,073 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,073 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 5.9% in the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 11,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 276,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,363,000 after acquiring an additional 16,686 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $292,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 56,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,504,000 after acquiring an additional 8,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 564,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,231,000 after purchasing an additional 56,738 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

USB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.02.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $53.66 on Wednesday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.49 and a 52 week high of $53.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.99 and its 200-day moving average is $44.23.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has approved 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 reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp 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.