First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. Purchases 350 Shares

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1,610.00 per share, for a total transaction of $563,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,440,380. This represents a 14.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 3.5 %

First Citizens BancShares stock opened at $1,778.04 on Wednesday. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,473.62 and a fifty-two week high of $2,412.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,780.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,012.91. The stock has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $37.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $37.72 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 18.55%. Research analysts predict that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 167.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.95 per share. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCNCA. Hedeker Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 41.2% in the first quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 264 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,003 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,130,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,538 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,852,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 229 shares of the bank’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Brookwood Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in First Citizens BancShares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $223,000. 78.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCNCA has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,500.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,535.00 to $2,200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $2,250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,330.82.

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.