First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Short Interest Up 13.1% in December

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 425,500 shares, an increase of 13.1% from the December 15th total of 376,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 86,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCNCA. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 3,577.5% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 35,010 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,943,000 after buying an additional 34,058 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 323,532 shares of the bank’s stock worth $595,607,000 after acquiring an additional 33,713 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 225.2% during the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 42,159 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,979,000 after purchasing an additional 29,194 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 183,992.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 23,932 shares of the bank’s stock worth $440,580,000 after purchasing an additional 23,919 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 6,773.9% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 23,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,274,000 after purchasing an additional 23,573 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $2,303.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $2,500.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Citizens BancShares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,290.75.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Up 1.5 %

First Citizens BancShares stock opened at $2,188.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $2,167.50 and its 200 day moving average is $2,020.28. First Citizens BancShares has a one year low of $1,371.77 and a one year high of $2,388.78.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.40 by ($1.53). The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 17.36%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $55.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Citizens BancShares will post 186.98 EPS for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $1.95 per share. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is 4.47%.

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.