Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 2,200 Shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group increased its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 24.6% in the first quarter, buying 2,200 more shares and bringing its holding to 11,126 shares valued at about $20.97 million.
• Insider buying has also been active: CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. purchased 528 shares in June, and insiders have bought 7,190 shares worth $12.57 million over the past 90 days.
• First Citizens BancShares beat quarterly EPS estimates with $44.86 per share, though revenue came in slightly below expectations; the stock traded up 0.5% to $2,092.59 and analysts currently rate it a consensus Hold.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Free Report) by 24.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,126 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI owned approximately 0.09% of First Citizens BancShares worth $20,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in First Citizens BancShares by 117,518.9% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 205,833 shares of the bank's stock worth $441,755,000 after purchasing an additional 205,658 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 124,061 shares of the bank's stock valued at $266,273,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 123,048 shares of the bank's stock valued at $264,087,000 after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 122,317 shares of the bank's stock valued at $262,514,000 after purchasing an additional 12,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 78,310 shares of the bank's stock worth $140,109,000 after buying an additional 10,948 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. purchased 528 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1,813.37 per share, for a total transaction of $957,459.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 64,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,237,017. This represents a 0.83% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 7,190 shares of company stock worth $12,573,868. Company insiders own 14.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FCNCA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $2,300.00 price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,340.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded First Citizens BancShares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $2,154.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut First Citizens BancShares from a "neutral" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Citizens BancShares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $2,247.08.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of FCNCA stock traded up $9.59 on Friday, hitting $2,092.59. The stock had a trading volume of 83,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 86,132. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,623.76 and a twelve month high of $2,232.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $2,031.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2,022.43. The firm has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.62.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $44.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $43.31 by $1.55. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 15.62%.The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $37.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 177.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. First Citizens BancShares's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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