Norges Bank Invests $1.89 Billion in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 35,372,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,887,497,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,749,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,568,000 after acquiring an additional 41,803 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 358,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,738,000 after acquiring an additional 47,537 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,162,000. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $893,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,690,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,462,000 after acquiring an additional 357,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total value of $2,280,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 207,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,813,307. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $1,916,661.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,731.84. The trade was a 40.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on USB. Barclays increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore increased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $58.00 to $57.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.20.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 0.8%

USB opened at $54.87 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $42.55 and a one year high of $61.19. The company has a market cap of $85.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.92.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 18.01%.The business had revenue of $7.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.61%.

U.S. Bancorp Company Profile

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.