First Merchants Corp Acquires Shares of 6,829 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

First Merchants Corp acquired a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,829 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 28,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 8,542 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 325,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,724,000 after purchasing an additional 78,146 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 138,836,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,640,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079,056 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,158,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,427,000 after purchasing an additional 312,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 560,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,069,000 after purchasing an additional 8,204 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, Director Aleem Gillani acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.32 per share, for a total transaction of $186,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $559,800. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $45.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $71.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.99. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $35.18 and a 12 month high of $53.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.54.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.92 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 15.70%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on USB. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered U.S. Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.72.

About U.S. Bancorp

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.

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