Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys 134,229 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 63.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 345,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,229 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $15,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 48,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,910,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 42,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 27.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 11,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 47.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 7,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 23,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.27.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB opened at $51.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $79.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.79 and a 200-day moving average of $45.18. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $37.81 and a one year high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. U.S. Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at $6,363,603.70. The trade was a 16.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.