VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in U.S. Bancorp $USB

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 47,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 141,230,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,962,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393,383 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 19,907,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $773,268,000 after purchasing an additional 422,050 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,889,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $628,614,000 after purchasing an additional 513,875 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,679,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $535,312,000 after purchasing an additional 104,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,012,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $464,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 1,360,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,041,584.76. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total transaction of $1,260,955.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,607,932.50. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $47.64 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.02 and a 200-day moving average of $44.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $35.18 and a twelve month high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.11. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.48.

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.