Swedbank AB Raises Holdings in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Swedbank AB lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 736,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,585 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $39,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,258,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,735,000 after purchasing an additional 145,231 shares in the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $569,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 239,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,763,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Welch Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $446,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,769,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,425,000 after purchasing an additional 49,733 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

USB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Venkatachari Dilip sold 34,522 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $1,916,661.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,292 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,847,731.84. This trade represents a 40.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.00, for a total value of $2,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 207,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,813,307. This trade represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $55.34 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $41.50 and a twelve month high of $61.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.00.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 18.01%.The business had revenue of $7.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 43.61%.

U.S. Bancorp Profile

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.