U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Shares Purchased by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 271.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 116,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 85,331 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $5,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total value of $895,005.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at $6,837,573.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock traded up $0.44 on Friday, reaching $41.41. The stock had a trading volume of 5,091,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,675,372. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $27.27 and a fifty-two week high of $45.85. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $64.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.71 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.02.

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.