Swedbank AB Has $24.75 Million Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 541,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,281 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $24,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 222.7% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on USB shares. Citigroup upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.02.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:USB opened at $53.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a 1-year low of $36.49 and a 1-year high of $53.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.15.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.