Marshall Wace LLP Grows Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 379.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 521,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 412,496 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.08% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $22,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FITB. Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 309,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,079,000 after purchasing an additional 34,203 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,135,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $597,692,000 after buying an additional 823,803 shares during the period. AMJ Financial Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 232,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,843,000 after buying an additional 9,401 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $357,000. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,878,000. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $761,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares in the company, valued at $10,820,994.62. This represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total transaction of $945,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,698,778.80. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on FITB shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.12.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $34.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $32.25 and a twelve month high of $49.07. The company has a market cap of $22.82 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.66.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.10% and a net margin of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Fifth Third Bank, National Association that engages in the provision of a range of financial products and services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer and Small Business Banking, and Wealth and Asset Management.