First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Citigroup

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group began coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $2,700.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised First Citizens BancShares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $2,100.00 to $2,500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,150.00 to $2,000.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $2,243.64.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

NASDAQ FCNCA traded up $59.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $2,130.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 160,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 88,208. First Citizens BancShares has a 52 week low of $1,363.97 and a 52 week high of $2,388.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $29.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2,122.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,948.22.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $55.92 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares will post 187.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,826 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,976,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC bought a new position in First Citizens BancShares in the third quarter valued at $3,564,000. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP grew its position in First Citizens BancShares by 14.1% in the third 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 acquired a new stake in First Citizens BancShares in the 3rd quarter valued at $801,000. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,368,000 after buying an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.01% of the company's stock.

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.