FORA Capital LLC Takes $3.70 Million Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 81,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,700,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of USB. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $971,285,000. Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 29.8% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 19,331,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,757,000 after buying an additional 4,442,623 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1,589.4% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,472,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266,724 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 354.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,855,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,205,000 after buying an additional 2,227,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 143,269,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,482,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,996 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 $53.41 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $35.18 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.05.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $7.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $10,607,932.50. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman owned 1,360,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,041,584.76. This represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

USB has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.50 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.16.

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.