First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Downgraded by Piper Sandler to Neutral

Piper Sandler lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $1,950.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their previous price target of $1,850.00.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $1,800.00 target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued a buy rating and a $1,950.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson restated a neutral rating and issued a $1,650.00 price objective (up from $1,600.00) on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,644.00 to $1,754.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $1,829.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 2.7 %

FCNCA opened at $1,707.48 on Friday. First Citizens BancShares has a fifty-two week low of $945.32 and a fifty-two week high of $1,810.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,586.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,484.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.89.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The bank reported $46.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $48.49 by ($1.91). The business had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 18.22%. On average, research analysts expect that First Citizens BancShares will post 179.92 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is currently 3.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding acquired 466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1,315.00 per share, with a total value of $612,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,027,610. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Ellen R. Alemany sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,559.09, for a total value of $935,454.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,842 shares in the company, valued at $7,549,113.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding bought 466 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1,315.00 per share, with a total value of $612,790.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 121,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,027,610. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 1,388 shares of company stock worth $1,825,220. Insiders own 12.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,017,655 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,444,022,000 after acquiring an additional 6,906 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 262,267 shares of the bank’s stock worth $361,956,000 after purchasing an additional 13,658 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $339,933,000 after purchasing an additional 41,793 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 17.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 189,186 shares of the bank’s stock worth $261,095,000 after purchasing an additional 27,729 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 186,822 shares of the bank’s stock worth $265,120,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. 61.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.