First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $2,238.2727.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FCNCA shares. Zacks Research cut First Citizens BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $2,100.00 to $2,200.00 in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,300.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,000.00 to $2,100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Monday, January 26th.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of First Citizens BancShares stock opened at $2,045.30 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2,116.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,950.68. First Citizens BancShares has a 1-year low of $1,473.62 and a 1-year high of $2,232.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.70.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The bank reported $51.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $44.24 by $7.03. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 15.21% and a return on equity of 11.12%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 167.59 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid 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 is Friday, February 27th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.07%.

Insider Activity at First Citizens BancShares

In other First Citizens BancShares news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. bought 135 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1,629.67 per share, with a total value of $220,005.45. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 2,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,118,176.09. This represents a 5.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 13.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 37,389 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,324,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 71.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 392 shares of the bank’s stock worth $727,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 241 shares of the bank’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 916 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 1.2% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,094 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,132,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. 78.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

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.