Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms Outperform Rating for First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their outperform rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a $2,100.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $1,900.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays boosted their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $1,850.00 to $1,950.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,644.00 to $1,754.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set a buy rating and a $1,950.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wedbush restated 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $1,829.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 2.5 %

FCNCA stock opened at $1,754.50 on Friday. First Citizens BancShares has a 52 week low of $945.32 and a 52 week high of $1,810.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,582.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,481.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.89.

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

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ellen R. Alemany sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,549,113.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding bought 466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 121,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,027,610. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 approximately $7,549,113.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 1,388 shares of company stock valued at $1,825,220 over the last quarter. 13.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCNCA. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 1,040.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 57 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,380,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 303 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 6.0% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 548 shares of the bank’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 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.