First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Downgraded by Autonomous Res to “Strong Sell”

Autonomous Res lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,375.00 to $2,300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,500.00 to $2,300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,150.00 to $2,350.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2,154.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2,243.75.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

FCNCA opened at $2,121.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,018.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2,022.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.62. First Citizens BancShares has a 1 year low of $1,623.76 and a 1 year high of $2,232.21.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $44.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $43.31 by $1.55. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 15.62%.The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $37.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares will post 175.42 EPS for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is currently 4.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. bought 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1,813.37 per share, for a total transaction of $957,459.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,237,017. This trade represents a 0.83% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 7,190 shares of company stock worth $12,573,868. Company insiders own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCNCA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 117,518.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 205,833 shares of the bank’s stock worth $441,755,000 after buying an additional 205,658 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,565,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in First Citizens BancShares by 574.0% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 55,402 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,903,000 after acquiring an additional 47,182 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in First Citizens BancShares by 2,057.4% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 47,506 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,944,000 after acquiring an additional 45,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 13,512.7% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 38,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,679,000 after purchasing an additional 38,241 shares in the last quarter. 78.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Citizens BancShares

First Citizens BancShares, Inc is the bank holding company for First Citizens Bank, a full?service commercial bank headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company traces its roots to a community bank founded in 1898 and has grown into a diversified financial services organization that operates through its banking subsidiary to serve retail, commercial and institutional clients.

First Citizens offers a broad suite of banking products and services, including consumer and business deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate and mortgage lending, treasury and cash management, and specialized lending solutions.