Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Stock Price

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $57.00 to $52.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 34.89% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on FITB. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.36.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $38.55 on Thursday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $33.82 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $25.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the 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 directly owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,698,778.80. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $761,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,820,994.62. This 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8,866.7% during the 4th quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC now owns 1,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $15,150,000. REAP Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 161.8% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 11,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

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.