Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $935,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Cowen began coverage on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $57.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aleem Gillani purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $37.32 per share, for a total transaction of $186,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $559,800. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $47.47 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $35.18 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The firm has a market cap of $73.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.45.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 15.70%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.50%.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.