First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA Stock Position Boosted by North Dakota State Investment Board

North Dakota State Investment Board lifted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 89.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 492 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board’s holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 153 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 0.5% in the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 959 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Hudock Inc. lifted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 4.2% in the third quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 149 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 10.0% during the third quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 66 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 2.8% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. 78.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCNCA has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,430.00 to $2,730.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $2,300.00 to $2,200.00 in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut First Citizens BancShares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $2,300.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2,355.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding sold 7,000 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.53, for a total transaction of $136,710.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $292,950. This trade represents a 31.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Diane Morais bought 50 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $2,168.11 per share, for a total transaction of $108,405.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,811. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 14.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

FCNCA opened at $2,352.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2,150.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $2,064.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $26.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.58. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,759.27 and a 1 year high of $2,429.96.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 23rd. The bank reported $55.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $46.18 by $9.19. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.49%. Sell-side analysts predict that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 201.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is 4.30%.

First Citizens BancShares declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Friday, October 23rd that allows the company to buy back $1.20 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 4.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

First Citizens BancShares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its principal subsidiary, First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions through a network of branches and digital banking channels.

The bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and residential lending, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, equipment finance, treasury management, and payment services.