First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Stock Position Raised by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,400 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $4,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 76.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 25,618 shares of the bank's stock valued at $41,886,000 after buying an additional 11,117 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in First Citizens BancShares during the 1st quarter valued at about $221,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in First Citizens BancShares by 28.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 947 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 16.4% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 355 shares of the bank's stock valued at $581,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services grew its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 184.5% in the first quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 458 shares of the bank's stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCNCA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $1,900.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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 First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,025.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

FCNCA traded up $32.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $1,974.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 87,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,769. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,945.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,832.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.81. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,339.10 and a fifty-two week high of $2,174.80.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $47.40 by ($1.53). The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 18.19% and a return on equity of 14.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $55.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 198.72 EPS for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to buyback $3.50 billion in 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $1.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from First Citizens BancShares's previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. This represents a $7.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. First Citizens BancShares's payout ratio is 4.33%.

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.