First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has $2,200.00 target price on the bank’s stock, down from their prior target price of $2,300.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on FCNCA. Weiss Ratings raised First Citizens BancShares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Fundamental Research set a $2,350.00 price objective on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $2,550.00 target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,150.00 to $2,323.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,376.00 to $2,650.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2,355.31.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $2,329.93 on Monday. First Citizens BancShares has a fifty-two week low of $1,735.03 and a fifty-two week high of $2,429.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2,141.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $2,062.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 23rd. The bank reported $55.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $46.18 by $9.19. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 16.54%. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares will post 194.20 EPS for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is an increase from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.30%.

First Citizens BancShares announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, October 23rd that authorizes the company to buy back $1.20 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Citizens BancShares

In related news, Director Diane Morais bought 50 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $2,168.11 per share, for a total transaction of $108,405.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,811. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding sold 7,000 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.53, for a total value of $136,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,950. This trade represents a 31.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 125,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $237,333,000 after buying an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 7.5% during the second quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 84,206 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,253,000 after buying an additional 5,909 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 20.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 91,876 shares of the bank’s stock worth $174,048,000 after buying an additional 15,788 shares during the period. Check Capital Management Inc. CA raised its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 3.0% in the first quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA now owns 44,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,054,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 44.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 43,247 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,506,000 after acquiring an additional 13,366 shares in 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 is a bank holding company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its principal subsidiary, First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through a network of branches and digital banking channels.

The bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and residential lending, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, equipment finance, treasury management, and payment services.