Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 141,232 First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 141,232 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $298,426,000. Norges Bank owned 1.01% of First Citizens BancShares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FCNCA. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 0.8% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 607 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 18 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 172 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $904,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management raised its position in First Citizens BancShares by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 16 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the period. 78.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Craig L. Nix purchased 17 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1,881.13 per share, for a total transaction of $31,979.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,146,369.33. This trade represents a 1.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

First Citizens BancShares stock opened at $1,835.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $24.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2,025.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,053.90. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,518.00 and a 1-year high of $2,412.93.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $45.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 167.59 EPS for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $1.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCNCA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Piper Sandler upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $2,250.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup cut First Citizens BancShares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,600.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,288.08.

First Citizens BancShares Profile

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.