Meeder Asset Management Inc. Has $1.31 Million Stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 5,823.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,129 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Selected Advisers raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 14,228,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $564,869,000 after purchasing an additional 43,437 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,312,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,523,000 after acquiring an additional 94,841 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,376,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,364,000 after purchasing an additional 325,374 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,852,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $478,118,000 after purchasing an additional 373,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,962,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,407,000 after purchasing an additional 20,928 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total value of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 129,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This represents a 16.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB opened at $50.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $78.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.86. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.49 and a 1 year high of $51.76.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 12.92%. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. Equities analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 61.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $54.00 target price on U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

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.