Investors Buy High Volume of U.S. Bancorp Call Options (NYSE:USB)

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 16,640 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 65% compared to the typical daily volume of 10,087 call options.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB stock traded up $0.66 on Thursday, reaching $54.40. 1,732,948 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,061,479. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.43 and a 200-day moving average of $47.26. The firm has a market cap of $84.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $35.18 and a twelve month high of $54.31.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.11. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 16.89% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The business had revenue of $7.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $58.00 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James L. Chosy sold 26,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.86, for a total value of $1,260,955.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 226,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,607,932.50. This represents a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Andrew Cecere sold 140,445 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.34, for a total value of $6,508,221.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,360,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,041,584.76. The trade was a 9.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On U.S. Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in U.S. Bancorp during the second quarter worth $971,285,000. Davis Selected Advisers grew its stake in U.S. Bancorp by 29.8% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 19,331,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,757,000 after acquiring an additional 4,442,623 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 1,589.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,472,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,119,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266,724 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 354.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,855,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,227,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 143,269,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,482,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

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.