River Road Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 5,568 First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA

River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,568 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $11,107,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in First Citizens BancShares during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. MAI Capital Management grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 500.0% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 18 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 35.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 23 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 13.5% during the second quarter. Bronte Capital Management Pty Ltd. now owns 24,198 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 2,887 shares in the last quarter. 78.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCNCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Raymond James Financial raised First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $2,100.00 to $2,200.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,400.00 to $2,190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,150.00 to $2,000.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,165.83.

Insider Transactions at First Citizens BancShares

In other First Citizens BancShares news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. bought 135 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1,629.67 per share, with a total value of $220,005.45. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527 shares in the company, valued at $4,118,176.09. The trade was a 5.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ellen R. Alemany purchased 300 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $1,000.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,000. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 13.40% of the company’s stock.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

FCNCA stock opened at $1,901.17 on Tuesday. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a one year low of $1,473.62 and a one year high of $2,412.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,798.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,893.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $44.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $41.51 by $3.11. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.21 billion. On average, analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 167.59 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This is a positive change from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is presently 4.97%.

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.