Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Makes New Investment in U.S. Bancorp $USB

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 19,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 105.5% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 23,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,418,000 after buying an additional 12,052 shares during the period. First Heartland Consultants Inc. acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $237,000. Cooper Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of U.S. Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $238,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 633.3% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 4.4% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 441,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,687,000 after acquiring an additional 18,501 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Stephen L. Philipson sold 36,906 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.08, for a total transaction of $2,328,030.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 74,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,729,044.52. This trade represents a 32.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research set a $67.50 target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. CLSA set a $67.50 price target on U.S. Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 20th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on U.S. Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.06.

U.S. Bancorp Price Performance

USB opened at $63.90 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. U.S. Bancorp has a 1 year low of $44.15 and a 1 year high of $65.02. The stock has a market cap of $99.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.96.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.07. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.69% and a net margin of 18.49%.The company had revenue of $7.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.52%.

U.S. Bancorp Company Profile

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) is a bank holding company and the parent of U.S. Bank, a national commercial bank that provides a wide range of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services. The company operates through consumer and business banking, commercial banking, payment services, and wealth management segments. Its product set includes deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgage origination and servicing, credit and debit card services, treasury and cash management, merchant processing, and institutional and trust services.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.