Bailard Inc. Sells 2,985 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Bailard Inc. cut its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 51,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,985 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $639,000 after buying an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 8,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $199,000. Finally, Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 32,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,357 shares of company stock worth $1,693,888 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FITB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

FITB traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $36.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 633,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,377,044. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $22.46 and a one year high of $37.41. The firm has a market cap of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.13.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

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.