Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Buys 834 Shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ossiam raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 31,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 3,722 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 370,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,365 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in U.S. Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $14,101,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 142.6% in the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 12,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE USB opened at $44.26 on Wednesday. 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 $69.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.46. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 12.55% and a return on equity of 13.34%. U.S. Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from U.S. Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is 66.23%.

U.S. Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, September 12th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

USB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised U.S. Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on U.S. Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of U.S. Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Aleem Gillani bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $44.99 per share, for a total transaction of $449,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $449,900. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.