U.S. Bancorp Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:USB)

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 40,853 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 178% compared to the average daily volume of 14,691 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at U.S. Bancorp

In other news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total value of $1,152,904.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 144,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,255,515.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Terrance R. Dolan sold 26,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.37, for a total transaction of $1,152,904.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 144,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,255,515.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James L. Chosy sold 21,582 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total transaction of $895,005.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,880 shares in the company, valued at $6,837,573.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $2,514,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 3.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in U.S. Bancorp by 20.8% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 21,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 3,663 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in U.S. Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $1,731,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 5.9% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 86,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,573,000 after purchasing an additional 4,827 shares in the last quarter. 77.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 3.6 %

USB opened at $39.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.33 and its 200 day moving average is $39.72. U.S. Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $27.27 and a fifty-two week high of $45.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.28. U.S. Bancorp had a net margin of 13.36% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company had revenue of $6.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. U.S. Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 59.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on USB shares. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $61.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $35.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.41.

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.