Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 33.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 29,949 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,541 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $50,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FCNCA. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 21.6% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 29,077 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,172 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,492 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,709,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 2,583.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 805 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in First Citizens BancShares during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,376,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in First Citizens BancShares by 67.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 6,067 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,921,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. 61.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FCNCA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of 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. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,005.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised First Citizens BancShares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,900.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wedbush lowered First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $2,450.00 to $2,150.00 in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $1,962.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $1,837.49 on Thursday. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,274.91 and a 12 month high of $2,174.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,953.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,767.64.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $50.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $44.91 by $5.96. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $52.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 200.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is currently 3.64%.

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.