Banco Santander S.A. Takes Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $357,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 309,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,079,000 after buying an additional 34,203 shares during the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 232,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,843,000 after acquiring an additional 9,401 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $9,878,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $423,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $541,000. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total transaction of $945,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at $5,698,778.80. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $761,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 244,487 shares in the company, valued at $10,820,994.62. This trade represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock opened at $39.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.80. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $33.82 and a one year high of $49.07. The company has a market capitalization of $26.24 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on FITB. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.31.

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.