Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 145,816 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,985 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $6,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FITB. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 7.5% during the third quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $932,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.39. 4,249,141 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,536,698. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $30.47 and a 12-month high of $49.07. The company has a market capitalization of $31.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $45.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. Analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is 49.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FITB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.81.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.