Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,913,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,922,784,000 after acquiring an additional 15,746,852 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 153.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,949,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,573,000 after purchasing an additional 4,807,662 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 723.7% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821,642 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 109.7% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,531,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $161,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,328,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,164,350,000 after buying an additional 1,796,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on USB. Citigroup raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Compass Point boosted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens lifted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total value of $3,114,246.32. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. This represents a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total value of $1,427,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,006.10. The trade was a 23.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB opened at $47.52 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $74.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.04. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $37.81 and a 12 month high of $53.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.50.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 14.75%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.77%.

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.