First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Downgraded to Neutral at Wedbush

Wedbush cut shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $2,150.00 target price on the bank’s stock, down from their previous target price of $2,450.00.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FCNCA. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $1,900.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a buy rating and a $2,005.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $1,962.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 5.1 %

FCNCA opened at $1,856.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.82. First Citizens BancShares has a twelve month low of $1,274.91 and a twelve month high of $2,174.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,953.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,767.15.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $50.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $44.91 by $5.96. The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 18.19%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $52.60 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 200.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 25th that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.64%.

Institutional Trading of First Citizens BancShares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCNCA. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 832 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 15,212 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,586,000 after acquiring an additional 6,931 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,377,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,331 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,335,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 98.4% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 61.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.