Merit Financial Group LLC Takes $514,000 Position in Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,860 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FIVE. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Five Below in the 4th quarter worth $123,601,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Five Below by 86.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,320,212 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $243,529,000 after buying an additional 1,072,642 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Five Below in the 4th quarter worth $66,933,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Five Below by 487.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 566,695 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $59,480,000 after buying an additional 470,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its holdings in Five Below by 399.5% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 562,902 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $59,082,000 after buying an additional 450,215 shares in the last quarter.

Five Below Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FIVE traded down $4.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $121.82. The stock had a trading volume of 1,341,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,075,108. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $93.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.02. Five Below, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.38 and a 1-year high of $137.30.

Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 4th. The specialty retailer reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $970.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $966.29 million. Five Below had a return on equity of 18.03% and a net margin of 7.02%. The business's revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Five Below, Inc. will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FIVE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Five Below from $110.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Five Below from $78.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Five Below from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Five Below from $57.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Five Below from $107.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Five Below presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $112.40.

Insider Transactions at Five Below

In other news, EVP Ronald James Masciantonio sold 584 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.04, for a total value of $45,575.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,658 shares in the company, valued at $987,830.32. This trade represents a 4.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider George Hill sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.93, for a total transaction of $598,185.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 44,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,866,200.90. This trade represents a 9.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

About Five Below

Five Below, Inc operates as a specialty value retailer in the United States. The company offers range of accessories, which includes novelty socks, sunglasses, jewelry, scarves, gloves, hair accessories, athletic tops and bottoms, and t-shirts, as well as nail polish, lip gloss, fragrance, and branded cosmetics; and personalized living space products, such as lamps, posters, frames, fleece blankets, plush items, pillows, candles, incense, lighting, novelty décor, accent furniture, and related items, as well as provides storage options.