First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FCNCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group assumed coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $2,700.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First Citizens BancShares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $2,500.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,250.00 to $2,456.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,290.75.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

First Citizens BancShares stock opened at $2,188.94 on Thursday. First Citizens BancShares has a fifty-two week low of $1,371.77 and a fifty-two week high of $2,388.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,167.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2,016.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $30.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.86.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $47.40 by ($1.53). The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 17.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $55.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Citizens BancShares will post 186.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 5.1% during 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 period. Balentine LLC bought a new stake in First Citizens BancShares in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,564,000. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hiddenite Capital Partners LP now owns 3,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,946,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Retireful LLC bought a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the 3rd quarter worth about $801,000. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 2,916 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

First Citizens BancShares Company 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.