Oak Thistle LLC Boosts Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Oak Thistle LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 114.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,739 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $2,514,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 21,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,731,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 86,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,573,000 after purchasing an additional 4,827 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 1.3 %

U.S. Bancorp stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.39. The stock had a trading volume of 2,456,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,919,813. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.05. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $27.27 and a 1-year high of $45.85.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 14.89%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Timothy A. Welsh sold 12,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total transaction of $487,993.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 106,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,616.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Timothy A. Welsh sold 12,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.33, for a total value of $487,993.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 106,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,616.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total value of $1,152,904.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 144,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,255,515.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,265 shares of company stock worth $2,535,903. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Compass Point upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $49.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.41.

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.