Sage Investment Counsel LLC Purchases Shares of 12,022 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 12,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of USB. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $367,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 21,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 22,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.59, for a total transaction of $1,427,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749,006.10. This trade represents a 23.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 66,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.96, for a total transaction of $3,114,246.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 209,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,837,274.72. The trade was a 24.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 219,812 shares of company stock worth $10,385,665 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.21.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

USB opened at $46.93 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.80. The company has a market cap of $73.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. U.S. Bancorp has a 52-week low of $37.81 and a 52-week high of $53.98.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 14.75% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.77%.

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.