First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 57.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,948 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 24,581 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $30,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FCNCA. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in First Citizens BancShares during the first quarter worth $298,180,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 4.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,064,822 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,740,984,000 after acquiring an additional 47,167 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 239,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $339,933,000 after acquiring an additional 41,793 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 3,577.5% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 35,010 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,943,000 after acquiring an additional 34,058 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew 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 worth $70,979,000 after acquiring an additional 29,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCNCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush downgraded First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $2,450.00 to $2,150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,900.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $2,005.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,012.11.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $1,845.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,274.91 and a 52-week high of $2,174.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,954.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,773.88. The company has a market capitalization of $26.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.82.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $50.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $44.91 by $5.96. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 18.19%. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $52.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 200.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.64%.

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.