American Century Companies Inc. Grows Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,576,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,687 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $410,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,088.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $42.77 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $37.81 and a fifty-two week high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. This represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total transaction of $1,427,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,749,006.10. This represents a 23.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on USB. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. DA Davidson raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.93.

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.