Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 8,283 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,486,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,283 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $205,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 16.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 401,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,348,000 after buying an additional 56,990 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $20,188,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 6.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 276,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,363,000 after purchasing an additional 16,686 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 11.2% in the first 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 period. Finally, M&G Plc boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 73.9% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 314,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,570,000 after purchasing an additional 133,498 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $53.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.15. U.S. Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.49 and a 52 week high of $53.93.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on USB shares. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.02.

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.