Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 79.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,538 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 491,352 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $5,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FITB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,586,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $912,692,000 after acquiring an additional 812,385 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,959,001 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $715,219,000 after buying an additional 285,910 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,836,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,763,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $243,690,000 after purchasing an additional 287,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $945,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 130,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,698,778.80. The trade was a 14.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,820,994.62. This trade represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ FITB traded down $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $34.33. 6,009,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,485,275. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.77. The company has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.99. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.25 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.01. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.