Whittier Trust Co. Grows Stock Position in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,664 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. owned about 0.06% of First Citizens BancShares worth $16,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 4.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 435,278 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $778,785,000 after purchasing an additional 18,190 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 16.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 78,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $140,109,000 after purchasing an additional 10,948 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 76,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $164,247,000 after purchasing an additional 27,789 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 1.4% in the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 70,248 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $125,715,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 66,276 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the period. 78.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 0.3%

First Citizens BancShares stock opened at $1,981.53 on Friday. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,623.76 and a 1-year high of $2,232.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1,940.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,948.13.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The bank reported $51.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $44.24 by $7.03. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 15.21%.The company had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 167.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Citizens BancShares news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. purchased 92 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1,550.00 per share, for a total transaction of $142,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,403,550. This represents a 3.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders acquired 258 shares of company stock valued at $404,236 in the last 90 days. 14.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FCNCA. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen upgraded First Citizens BancShares to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered First Citizens BancShares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2,154.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group set a $2,325.00 target price on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Citizens BancShares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,227.08.

About First Citizens BancShares

First Citizens BancShares, Inc is the bank holding company for First Citizens Bank, a full‑service commercial bank headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company traces its roots to a community bank founded in 1898 and has grown into a diversified financial services organization that operates through its banking subsidiary to serve retail, commercial and institutional clients.

First Citizens offers a broad suite of banking products and services, including consumer and business deposit accounts, commercial and industrial lending, real estate and mortgage lending, treasury and cash management, and specialized lending solutions.