Meridian Wealth Management LLC Invests $443,000 in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in USB. McAdam LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.5% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 8,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 15.2% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 2.1% during the third quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 12,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% during the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jodi L. Richard sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.03, for a total transaction of $1,225,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 129,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,363,603.70. This trade represents a 16.15 % 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. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

USB has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.22.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE:USB opened at $52.49 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $81.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.02. U.S. Bancorp has a twelve month low of $36.49 and a twelve month high of $52.69.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.04. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, September 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.16%.

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.