GAMMA Investing LLC Buys New Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 12,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $513,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in USB. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 49,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Perkins Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 16,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Savings Bank raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 11,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on USB shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $52.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.14.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB traded up $0.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $41.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,128,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,740,720. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $27.27 and a 12 month high of $45.85. The firm has a market cap of $64.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.34 and a 200-day moving average of $40.03.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,837,573.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of U.S. Bancorp 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,837,573.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,152,904.71. Following the sale, the insider now owns 144,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,255,515.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About U.S. Bancorp

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.