AdvisorNet Financial Inc Sells 1,603 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc cut its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,603 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 89.5% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 232.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FITB. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Baird R W cut Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB opened at $43.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $29.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.24. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $32.29 and a 12 month high of $49.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.76.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 49.17%.

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.