MML Investors Services LLC Buys 29,671 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 810,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,671 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC owned about 0.05% of U.S. Bancorp worth $37,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of USB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Zacks Investment Management increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 1,571,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,866,000 after purchasing an additional 137,463 shares in the last quarter. Zega Financial LLC bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $906,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 31.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,536,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $161,742,000 after buying an additional 838,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 22.3% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 99,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,533,000 after buying an additional 18,088 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on USB shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE USB opened at $52.18 on Monday. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $37.81 and a 12 month high of $53.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.03.

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

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.16%.

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

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.