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

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $2,100.00 target price on the bank’s stock, up from their prior target price of $1,900.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 18.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on 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. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,650.00 target price (up from $1,600.00) on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut First Citizens BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,800.00 price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $1,850.00 to $1,950.00 in a research note on Friday. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Citizens BancShares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,829.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FCNCA traded down $35.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,765.22. 21,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 80,941. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1,578.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,477.46. First Citizens BancShares has a fifty-two week low of $945.32 and a fifty-two week high of $1,810.03. The stock has a market cap of $25.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The bank reported $46.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $48.49 by ($1.91). First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 51.04%. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 179.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ellen R. Alemany sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,842 shares in the company, valued at $7,549,113.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. purchased 622 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $1,315.00 per share, for a total transaction of $817,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 97,609 shares in the company, valued at $128,355,835. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 owns 4,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,549,113.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 1,388 shares of company stock valued at $1,825,220. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Citizens BancShares

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