First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Short Interest Update

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 425,500 shares, a growth of 13.1% from the December 31st total of 376,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 86,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Institutional Trading of First Citizens BancShares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,826 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,976,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the third quarter valued at about $3,564,000. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP now owns 3,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,946,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Retireful LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the 3rd quarter valued at $801,000. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in First Citizens BancShares by 22.6% in the third quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,368,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial increased their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,303.00 to $2,384.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,456.00 to $2,568.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,500.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,323.50.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

Shares of First Citizens BancShares stock traded down $62.68 on Monday, reaching $2,142.01. 64,536 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 75,540. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.85. First Citizens BancShares has a 1-year low of $1,438.08 and a 1-year high of $2,412.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2,160.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2,054.63.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $45.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.32 by $5.78. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 18.55%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 165.15 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $1.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.12%.

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.