Aviva PLC Purchases 86,194 Shares of U.S. Bancorp $USB

Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,176,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,194 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned about 0.08% of U.S. Bancorp worth $53,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $138,183,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 141,230,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,962,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393,383 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 17.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,070,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,318 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 192.0% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,994,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 10.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,012,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $464,953,000 after buying an additional 1,045,509 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,360,414 shares in the company, valued at $63,041,584.76. This trade represents a 9.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $47.32 on Friday. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $35.18 and a 52-week high of $53.98. The stock has a market cap of $73.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.10. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $47.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.84.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.55.

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.