Old Peak Finance LLC Buys Shares of 721 First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA

Old Peak Finance LLC acquired a new position in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 721 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,548,000. First Citizens BancShares makes up approximately 1.0% of Old Peak Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 435,278 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $778,785,000 after purchasing an additional 18,190 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 117,518.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 205,833 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $441,755,000 after acquiring an additional 205,658 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 16.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 78,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $140,109,000 after buying an additional 10,948 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 76,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $164,247,000 after purchasing an additional 27,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 96.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 69,551 shares of the bank’s stock worth $149,269,000 after buying an additional 34,184 shares during the last quarter. 78.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FCNCA shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,200.00 to $2,150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2,154.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised First Citizens BancShares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2,215.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Citizens BancShares

In other news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 5,940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $1,726.82 per share, with a total value of $10,257,310.80. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,810,837.02. This trade represents a 18.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 6,198 shares of company stock worth $10,661,547. Corporate insiders own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of FCNCA opened at $1,939.71 on Tuesday. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,623.76 and a 1 year high of $2,232.21. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,952.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,994.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $44.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $43.31 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 11.48%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $37.79 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 177.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is 4.83%.

About First Citizens BancShares

First Citizens BancShares, Inc is the bank holding company for First Citizens Bank, a full‑service commercial bank headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company traces its roots to a community bank founded in 1898 and has grown into a diversified financial services organization that operates through its banking subsidiary to serve retail, commercial and institutional clients.

First Citizens offers a broad suite of banking products and services, including consumer and business deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate and mortgage lending, treasury and cash management, and specialized lending solutions.