Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $7.76 Million Stock Holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,481 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $7,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of USB. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 2.9% in the 2nd 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. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its position in U.S. Bancorp by 1.9% in the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 13,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 65,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC lifted its position in U.S. Bancorp by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 5,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, STAR Financial Bank boosted its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 7,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered U.S. Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other U.S. Bancorp news, Director Aleem Gillani acquired 10,000 shares of U.S. Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $449,900. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of U.S. Bancorp stock opened at $46.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44.39 and its 200-day moving average is $42.32. U.S. Bancorp has a one year low of $30.47 and a one year high of $47.31.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 12.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts predict that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. This is an increase from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. U.S. Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

U.S. Bancorp Company 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.