CenterBook Partners LP Decreases Stock Holdings in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP cut its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 74.7% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 411 shares worth about $882,000.
• Other institutional investors remain heavily invested in FCNCA, with hedge funds and institutions owning about 78.01% of the company’s stock.
• Analysts are mostly cautious on the stock: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a target price of $2,215.91, while the company also recently reported stronger-than-expected quarterly EPS and announced a $2.10 quarterly dividend.

CenterBook Partners LP lessened its stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Free Report) by 74.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 411 shares of the bank's stock after selling 1,214 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 4.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 435,278 shares of the bank's stock valued at $778,785,000 after purchasing an additional 18,190 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 117,518.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 205,833 shares of the bank's stock worth $441,755,000 after acquiring an additional 205,658 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 16.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 78,310 shares of the bank's stock worth $140,109,000 after acquiring an additional 10,948 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 77,814 shares of the bank's stock worth $167,041,000 after acquiring an additional 7,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 76,088 shares of the bank's stock worth $164,247,000 after acquiring an additional 27,789 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCNCA shares. Zacks Research upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered First Citizens BancShares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,375.00 to $2,300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered First Citizens BancShares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $2,154.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $2,215.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 5,940 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $1,726.82 per share, with a total value of $10,257,310.80. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 38,111 shares in the company, valued at $65,810,837.02. This trade represents a 18.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 7,437 shares of company stock valued at $12,956,718. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of FCNCA stock opened at $2,112.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $24.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,979.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,005.76. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $44.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $43.31 by $1.55. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 15.62%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $37.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 177.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

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

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.

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