Vest Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 822 First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 822 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,764,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 16 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 15 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 280.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 78.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FCNCA shares. Barclays cut their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,456.00 to $2,346.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group set a $2,325.00 target price on First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2,154.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen raised First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2,202.08.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

FCNCA opened at $1,983.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.65. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,926.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,964.79. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,623.76 and a 1-year high of $2,232.21.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $44.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $43.31 by $1.55. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.20 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 15.62%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $37.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 177.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Citizens BancShares

In other news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. purchased 92 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1,550.00 per share, for a total transaction of $142,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,403,550. The trade was a 3.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 258 shares of company stock valued at $404,236. Corporate insiders own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

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.