First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Raised to “Overweight” at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $2,250.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $2,600.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,500.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,456.00 to $2,568.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,323.50.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

First Citizens BancShares stock opened at $1,738.71 on Tuesday. First Citizens BancShares has a 12 month low of $1,515.02 and a 12 month high of $2,412.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,092.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,063.27. The company has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.81.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $45.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.32 by $5.78. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 18.55%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares will post 167.59 EPS for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $1.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Craig L. Nix bought 17 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1,881.13 per share, with a total value of $31,979.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,141 shares in the company, valued at $2,146,369.33. The trade was a 1.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 392,097 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $828,510,000 after buying an additional 103,137 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 357,629 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $755,677,000 after buying an additional 34,097 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 78.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 172,723 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $364,967,000 after buying an additional 75,785 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the fourth quarter valued at about $298,426,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 107,523 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $227,198,000 after buying an additional 48,994 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

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.