Vise Technologies Inc. Acquires New Stake in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 27,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,257,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.6% in the second quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 39,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 3.5% during the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 4,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 5,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 46,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,086,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.55.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of USB opened at $47.84 on Thursday. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $35.18 and a 1 year high of $53.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.00. The firm has a market cap of $74.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.10.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction 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 owned 1,360,414 shares in the company, valued at $63,041,584.76. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,607,932.50. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.