First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Wedbush

Wedbush downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $2,150.00 target price on the bank’s stock, down from their previous target price of $2,450.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $1,900.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a buy rating and a $2,005.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $1,962.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $1,856.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. First Citizens BancShares has a 1-year low of $1,274.91 and a 1-year high of $2,174.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,953.43 and a 200 day moving average of $1,767.15.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $50.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $44.91 by $5.96. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 18.19%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $52.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Citizens BancShares will post 200.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 25th that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is presently 3.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCNCA. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 832 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in First Citizens BancShares by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 15,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,586,000 after purchasing an additional 6,931 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,377,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,331 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,335,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 98.4% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 379 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.18% of the company’s stock.

About First Citizens BancShares

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.