First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Now Covered by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA – Get Rating) in a research note published on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm issued a sell rating and a $538.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised First Citizens BancShares from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, February 4th.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of FCNCA stock opened at $509.06 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $740.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $783.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 0.94. First Citizens BancShares has a fifty-two week low of $505.84 and a fifty-two week high of $885.38.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The bank reported $20.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $23.34 by ($2.40). First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 19.79%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.10 billion. Research analysts expect that First Citizens BancShares will post 89.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 27th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is presently 4.45%.

Insider Activity

In other First Citizens BancShares news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. bought 1,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $722.51 per share, for a total transaction of $736,960.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,232 shares in the company, valued at $67,361,052.32. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 1,020 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $722.51 per share, for a total transaction of $736,960.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 93,232 shares in the company, valued at $67,361,052.32. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Craig L. Nix acquired 73 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $678.79 per share, with a total value of $49,551.67. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 1,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,566.01. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,583 shares of company stock worth $1,110,798. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCNCA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 106.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,105,554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $735,855,000 after purchasing an additional 568,929 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 113.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 371,016 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $246,949,000 after purchasing an additional 196,851 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 53.7% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 402,593 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $267,966,000 after purchasing an additional 140,626 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 30.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 594,276 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $395,550,000 after purchasing an additional 140,410 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 88.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 268,916 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $179,001,000 after purchasing an additional 126,483 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.53% of the company’s stock.

About First Citizens BancShares

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First Citizens BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company, which provides retail and commercial banking services through its subsidiaries. The company operates under the following segments: General Banking, Commercial Banking, Rail, and Corporate. The General Banking delivers services to individuals through branch networks.