AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases New Holdings in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,759 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $7,354,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in First Citizens BancShares during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in First Citizens BancShares during the first quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 32.1% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 37 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 32.5% during the second quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 53 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 15.8% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 66 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. 78.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FCNCA shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $2,410.00 price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $2,100.00 price objective on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,250.00 to $2,000.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, September 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,166.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 600 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1,698.75 per share, with a total value of $1,019,250.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 32,300 shares in the company, valued at $54,869,625. This represents a 1.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding bought 409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1,630.00 per share, with a total value of $666,670.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,875,320. The trade was a 30.18% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,371,476. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $1,786.10 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1,857.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1,884.71. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,473.62 and a 52-week high of $2,412.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.60.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $44.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $41.51 by $3.11. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 15.99%.The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 167.59 EPS for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a positive change from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.95. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.97%.

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.