LPL Financial LLC Purchases 1,258 Shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Free Report) by 53.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,633 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $7,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FCNCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,960 shares of the bank's stock worth $531,961,000 after acquiring an additional 18,501 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the fourth quarter worth about $147,341,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 57,981 shares of the bank's stock worth $122,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 128.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 54,831 shares of the bank's stock valued at $115,859,000 after purchasing an additional 30,828 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,724 shares of the bank's stock valued at $100,842,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Citizens BancShares news, CFO Craig L. Nix bought 17 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $1,881.13 per share, for a total transaction of $31,979.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 1,141 shares in the company, valued at $2,146,369.33. This represents a 1.51 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 13.40% of the company's stock.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

Shares of First Citizens BancShares stock traded down $96.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $1,639.64. 163,030 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 88,754. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,913.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,037.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.66. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $1,473.62 and a 52 week high of $2,412.93.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $45.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $39.32 by $5.78. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 18.55%. Research analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 167.59 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $1.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. First Citizens BancShares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FCNCA. Barclays upped their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,456.00 to $2,568.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,303.00 to $2,384.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup downgraded First Citizens BancShares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2,288.08.

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.