Searle & CO. Acquires Shares of 165,037 Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Searle & CO. acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 165,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,692,000. Fifth Third Bancorp accounts for approximately 1.6% of Searle & CO.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,428,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $492,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,653 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,860,365 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $376,413,000 after acquiring an additional 393,937 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,076,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $331,188,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176,903 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,774,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $171,600,000 after acquiring an additional 253,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,601,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,906,000 after acquiring an additional 281,557 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 139,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $540,497.66. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $181,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,357 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,888. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of FITB stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.10. The company had a trading volume of 4,044,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,337,054. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.72 and a 200 day moving average of $32.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $25.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.46 and a 1-year high of $37.67.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.