First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $2,323.50.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FCNCA shares. Citigroup downgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,303.00 to $2,384.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,456.00 to $2,568.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $2,700.00 price target on the stock.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of First Citizens BancShares stock opened at $1,728.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2,107.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2,067.45. First Citizens BancShares has a 12-month low of $1,505.73 and a 12-month high of $2,412.93. The company has a market capitalization of $23.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $45.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.32 by $5.78. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 18.55%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 167.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $1.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Citizens BancShares news, CFO Craig L. Nix bought 17 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $1,881.13 per share, for a total transaction of $31,979.21. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,146,369.33. The trade was a 1.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP increased its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP now owns 3,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,946,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Retireful LLC bought a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $801,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,960 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $531,961,000 after purchasing an additional 18,501 shares during the last quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA now owns 33,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,995,000 after buying an additional 5,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,811,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 78.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Citizens BancShares

First Citizens BancShares, Inc operates as the holding company for First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company that provides retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and professionals. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and time deposit accounts.