IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $3.92 Million Stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,131 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $3,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 183,992.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 23,932 shares of the bank’s stock worth $440,580,000 after buying an additional 23,919 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 348 shares of the bank’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in First Citizens BancShares during the 3rd quarter worth $4,565,000. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 562,500.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 5,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,357,000 after acquiring an additional 5,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,826 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,976,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on FCNCA. StockNews.com cut First Citizens BancShares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $1,900.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,950.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2,025.90.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $1,881.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1,339.10 and a 12-month high of $2,174.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,948.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,825.89.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.40 by ($1.53). The company had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.36 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 company posted $55.92 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 198.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The company 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 is Friday, November 29th. This is a positive change from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is 3.61%.

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.