Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,190,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 873,272 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $177,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $371,836,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4,128.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,860,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,320 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,508,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,971,000. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% during the fourth 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. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,820,994.62. This trade represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at $5,698,778.80. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 7.2 %

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $35.82 on Thursday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $32.25 and a 1-year high of $49.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.06.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 47.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $48.12.

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.