U.S. Bancorp $USB Stock: Wedbush Securities Inc. Reduces Position

Wedbush Securities Inc. decreased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,808 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $3,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mufg Bank LTD. purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,680,199,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 6.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,820,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $822,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,898 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,369,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $539,232,000 after buying an additional 93,025 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $536,457,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 39.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 8,118,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $422,261,000 after buying an additional 2,314,081 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of USB stock opened at $59.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.25. The company has a market cap of $92.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.00. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $45.02 and a 1 year high of $66.07.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 18.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore raised U.S. Bancorp from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $68.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.19.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, CEO Gunjan Kedia sold 27,267 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.37, for a total transaction of $1,700,642.79. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 426,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,585,960.94. This trade represents a 6.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Company Profile

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a financial services holding company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association. U.S. Bank provides banking, lending, payment, investment and wealth-management services to individuals, businesses, institutions and government entities.

The company’s consumer and business banking operations offer deposit accounts, mortgages, home-equity and consumer loans, credit cards, small-business banking and commercial lending.