Piper Sandler Upgrades First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) to “Overweight”

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $2,250.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,500.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,600.00 price target for the company. Citigroup cut First Citizens BancShares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,303.00 to $2,384.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,323.50.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

Shares of FCNCA stock opened at $1,728.36 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $2,107.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $2,067.45. First Citizens BancShares has a 12 month low of $1,505.73 and a 12 month high of $2,412.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.81.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $45.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.32 by $5.78. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 13.22%. Equities research analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares will post 167.59 EPS for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $1.95 dividend. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is 4.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Craig L. Nix acquired 17 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1,881.13 per share, with a total value of $31,979.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 1,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,146,369.33. The trade was a 1.51 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 13.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Citizens BancShares

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Citizens BancShares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,401 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,261,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $578,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 44.5% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hiddenite Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP now owns 3,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,946,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

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.