Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Takes Position in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp of 33,142 shares in Q4, valued at approximately $1.77 million according to its Form 13F filing.
• Company insiders executed large sales this year — Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares and Mark G. Runkel sold 32,195 shares — leaving insiders with just 0.21% ownership.
• Analysts hold a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $61.18 price target; U.S. Bancorp recently beat quarterly EPS estimates and pays a $0.52 quarterly dividend (≈3.7% yield).

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 33,142 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,768,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,780 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 13,721 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Genesis Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,348 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 10,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was 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 directly owned 207,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,813,307. The trade was a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark G. Runkel sold 32,195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.65, for a total value of $1,952,626.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 97,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,927,203.20. This trade represents a 24.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on USB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wolfe Research cut U.S. Bancorp from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $62.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.18.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB stock opened at $55.62 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.68. The stock has a market cap of $86.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.01. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $39.28 and a 1 year high of $61.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 18.26% and a net margin of 18.01%.The company 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. U.S. Bancorp's payout ratio is 43.61%.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.

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