Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $2.50 Million Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,890 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $2,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth $25,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 846.5% in the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 118.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $47.32 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $35.18 and a 1 year high of $53.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.10.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm 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 earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other U.S. Bancorp news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total value of $1,260,955.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,607,932.50. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.50 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.55.

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.