Morse Asset Management Inc Takes $229,000 Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 5,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Northwest Bank & Trust Co grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 87.4% in the third quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $52.02 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.86 and a 200-day moving average of $44.68. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on USB. Royal Bank of Canada set a $53.00 price objective on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.72.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.