Boston Research & Management Inc. Acquires 1,530 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Boston Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Boston Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $4,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $1,018,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,836,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,640,569,000 after buying an additional 1,079,056 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 846,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,704,000 after buying an additional 22,803 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 380,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,212,000 after buying an additional 38,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. now owns 72,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,473,000 after acquiring an additional 16,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, CEO Andrew Cecere sold 102,044 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.25, for a total transaction of $4,821,579.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,230,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,132,431. The trade was a 7.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 209,482 shares in the company, valued at $9,837,274.72. This represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on USB. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. DA Davidson upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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 report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.21.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 2.4 %

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $42.21 on Monday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.59. The firm has a market cap of $65.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02.

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

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 52.77%.

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.