Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 542,460 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,485,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 542,460 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $189,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Common Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 34,203 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 823,803 shares during the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 232,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,843,000 after purchasing an additional 9,401 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $357,000. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,878,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FITB has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $761,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $945,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at $5,698,778.80. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $38.93 on Wednesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $33.82 and a 12-month high of $49.07. The company has a market cap of $26.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.96 and a 200 day moving average of $43.49. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.13%.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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.