Vista Capital Partners Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,659 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Vista Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 135,371,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,051,096,000 after acquiring an additional 502,776 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,869,000 after acquiring an additional 43,437 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,523,000 after purchasing an additional 94,841 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,364,000 after purchasing an additional 325,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $478,118,000 after purchasing an additional 373,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $49.56 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $33.61 and a 12 month high of $51.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.40 and a 200-day moving average of $43.25.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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 report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens raised their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.12.

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.