Vertex Planning Partners LLC Takes $203,000 Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,188,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 16,686 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 564,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,231,000 after buying an additional 56,738 shares during the period. M&G Plc grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 73.9% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 314,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,570,000 after buying an additional 133,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1,140.5% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 20,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 18,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on USB shares. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer increased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE USB opened at $50.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $78.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 2.94 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. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.49 and a 1-year high of $51.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.10 and a 200-day moving average of $43.79.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management 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.