Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB Shares Sold by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,131,349 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 68,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,685,000 after acquiring an additional 7,140 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.5% in the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,503,000 after purchasing an additional 7,107 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $413,000. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,764,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,908,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $898,009,000 after buying an additional 1,321,554 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $41.22 per share, with a total value of $123,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 84,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,501,309.24. This trade represents a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on FITB. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Stephens set a $52.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.75.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

FITB opened at $45.46 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.40. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $32.25 and a 1 year high of $47.86. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 18.67% and a return on equity of 13.41%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.76%.

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.