Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 35,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust purchased a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after buying an additional 15,665 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,073,000. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 652,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,236,000 after buying an additional 272,976 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,837,573.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on USB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $52.00) on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Compass Point upgraded U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $49.00 in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from 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 NYSE:USB opened at $41.41 on Monday. 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 has a 12 month low of $27.27 and a 12 month high of $45.85. The company has a market capitalization of $64.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.32 and its 200 day moving average is $40.50.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.71 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 12.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

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.