Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $2,005.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $2,100.00 target price (up previously from $1,900.00) on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $1,650.00 target price (up previously from $1,600.00) on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James raised First Citizens BancShares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $1,900.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler cut First Citizens BancShares from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $1,850.00 to $1,950.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised First Citizens BancShares from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $1,857.18.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of FCNCA stock opened at $1,747.39 on Tuesday. First Citizens BancShares has a 1 year low of $1,274.91 and a 1 year high of $1,810.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,706.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,591.06. The company has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 0.83.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $52.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $44.27 by $8.65. The firm had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 18.22%. Research analysts predict that First Citizens BancShares will post 191.02 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Citizens BancShares news, Director Ellen R. Alemany sold 484 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,750.12, for a total transaction of $847,058.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 335 shares in the company, valued at $586,290.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Ellen R. Alemany sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,757.27, for a total transaction of $1,757,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,345,955.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ellen R. Alemany sold 484 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,750.12, for a total value of $847,058.08. Following the sale, the director now owns 335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $586,290.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,000 shares of company stock worth $5,273,568 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Citizens BancShares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 215 shares of the bank’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 277 shares of the bank’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 165 shares of the bank’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in First Citizens BancShares by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 161 shares of the bank’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in First Citizens BancShares by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 450 shares of the bank’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.18% of the company’s stock.

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.