Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 8.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 448,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,188 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $27,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,887,497,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 5,236.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 33,350,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,779,556,000 after buying an additional 32,725,000 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,377,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,919,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,329,683,000 after acquiring an additional 4,153,080 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 63.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,480,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $505,866,000 after acquiring an additional 3,672,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. CLSA set a $67.50 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research set a $67.50 price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Stephen L. Philipson sold 36,906 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.08, for a total transaction of $2,328,030.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 74,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,729,044.52. This represents a 32.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $64.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.25. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $45.02 and a 12 month high of $65.10.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.07. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 18.49% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The firm had revenue of $7.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. Analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.22 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 41.52%.

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.