Ethic Inc. Buys 77,895 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 56.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,895 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $10,372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $777,524,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,787,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,947,000 after purchasing an additional 5,449,949 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 414.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,789,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,915,000 after purchasing an additional 4,663,518 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $184,733,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 67,125,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,210,624,000 after buying an additional 3,211,815 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of USB stock opened at $42.08 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $35.18 and a 1-year high of $53.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $65.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.76 and a 200-day moving average of $46.19.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised U.S. Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (down from $57.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.48.

Insider Activity

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $37.32 per share, for a total transaction of $186,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $559,800. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About U.S. Bancorp

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.