First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA Shares Sold by Maltese Capital Management LLC

Maltese Capital Management LLC cut its position in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 32.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,409 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,106 shares during the period. First Citizens BancShares accounts for 1.7% of Maltese Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Maltese Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $9,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 898 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Saber Capital Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,841,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 1,954 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,193,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 350.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marnell Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,518,000. 78.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 5,940 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1,726.82 per share, with a total value of $10,257,310.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 38,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,810,837.02. This represents a 18.46% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 7,286 shares of company stock worth $12,722,668 over the last quarter. Insiders own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCNCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered First Citizens BancShares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2,154.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on 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. Zacks Research raised First Citizens BancShares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered First Citizens BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,375.00 to $2,300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2,215.91.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

NASDAQ FCNCA opened at $2,068.75 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,991.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2,010.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,623.76 and a fifty-two week high of $2,232.21.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $44.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $43.31 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 15.62%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $37.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 177.84 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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.