First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $2,215.9091.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FCNCA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings cut First Citizens BancShares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,500.00 to $2,300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Friday, April 24th.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $2,079.65 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $2,016.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2,022.00. The stock has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.62. First Citizens BancShares has a 52-week low of $1,623.76 and a 52-week high of $2,232.21.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $44.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $43.31 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 15.62%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $37.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Citizens BancShares will post 175.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.83%.

Insider Transactions at First Citizens BancShares

In related news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. purchased 528 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1,813.37 per share, with a total value of $957,459.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,237,017. This trade represents a 0.83% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 7,190 shares of company stock valued at $12,573,868. 14.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCNCA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in First Citizens BancShares by 117,518.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 205,833 shares of the bank’s stock worth $441,755,000 after buying an additional 205,658 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in First Citizens BancShares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $116,565,000. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in First Citizens BancShares by 574.0% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 55,402 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,903,000 after buying an additional 47,182 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in First Citizens BancShares by 2,057.4% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 47,506 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,944,000 after buying an additional 45,304 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in First Citizens BancShares by 13,512.7% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,679,000 after buying an additional 38,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

About First Citizens BancShares

First Citizens BancShares, Inc is the bank holding company for First Citizens Bank, a full‑service commercial bank headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company traces its roots to a community bank founded in 1898 and has grown into a diversified financial services organization that operates through its banking subsidiary to serve retail, commercial and institutional clients.

First Citizens offers a broad suite of banking products and services, including consumer and business deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate and mortgage lending, treasury and cash management, and specialized lending solutions.