QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in U.S. Bancorp $USB

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 110.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 260,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137,102 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $13,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 146,376,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,810,665,000 after buying an additional 1,828,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,701,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,755,083,000 after buying an additional 522,368 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,679,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,518,000 after buying an additional 443,646 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,887,497,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5,236.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 33,350,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,779,556,000 after acquiring an additional 32,725,000 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on USB. Stephens initiated coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Barclays upped their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.57.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $1,916,661.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,731.84. This trade represents a 40.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total value of $2,280,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 207,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,813,307. This trade represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $61.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $43.46 and a 1 year high of $62.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.50. The firm has a market cap of $95.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.96.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $7.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 18.01%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.61%.

About U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.