Nicholas Company Inc. Raises Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Nicholas Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,779 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $7,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in USB. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 1,088.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $1,022,140.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,440,751.55. This trade represents a 9.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock valued at $10,385,665. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

USB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup raised U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James raised U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.21.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $42.06 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.78. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.