First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $2,100.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $1,900.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential upside of 19.69% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on FCNCA. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1,650.00 price objective (up previously from $1,600.00) on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,950.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,644.00 to $1,754.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,850.00 to $1,950.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,800.00 target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,829.90.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of FCNCA stock opened at $1,754.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,582.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,480.23. First Citizens BancShares has a twelve month low of $945.32 and a twelve month high of $1,810.03. The company has a market capitalization of $25.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Citizens BancShares news, Director Ellen R. Alemany sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,559.09, for a total value of $935,454.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,549,113.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding purchased 466 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1,315.00 per share, for a total transaction of $612,790.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 121,694 shares in the company, valued at $160,027,610. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ellen R. Alemany sold 600 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,842 shares in the company, valued at $7,549,113.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 1,388 shares of company stock worth $1,825,220 in the last 90 days. 13.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 145.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 89.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,914 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,716,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 3,091.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 23,905 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,203,000 after acquiring an additional 23,156 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 56,803 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,602,000 after acquiring an additional 5,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 47,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,261,000 after acquiring an additional 15,579 shares in the last quarter. 61.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.