HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 23.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 357 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 107 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,826 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,976,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC purchased a new position in First Citizens BancShares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,564,000. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP now owns 3,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,946,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $801,000. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,150.00 to $2,000.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group assumed coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,700.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $2,600.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,243.64.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

Shares of FCNCA stock opened at $2,070.94 on Friday. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,363.97 and a fifty-two week high of $2,388.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2,121.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,947.36.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $47.40 by ($1.53). First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 17.36%. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $55.92 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 187.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $1.95 dividend. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is an increase from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.47%.

First Citizens BancShares Profile

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.