Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 85,331 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Free Report) by 271.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 116,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 85,331 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.'s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $5,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in USB. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,167 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 505,715 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,887,000 after buying an additional 128,294 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 6,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,701,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $203,487,000 after acquiring an additional 51,067 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.60% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In related news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total value of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at $6,837,573.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on USB shares. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.02.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of USB traded up $0.44 on Friday, reaching $41.41. 5,091,249 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,675,372. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $42.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.41. The stock has a market cap of $64.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $27.27 and a 52-week high of $45.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.71 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business's revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. U.S. Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.90%.

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.