Northern Trust Corp Cuts Stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. $FCNCA

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 4.3%, owning approximately 0.54% of the company worth $136 million after selling 3,327 shares in Q1.
• Several institutional investors, including the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and Bank of New York Mellon Corp, either increased their stakes or initiated new investments in First Citizens BancShares during the same period.
• Analysts have a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating for First Citizens BancShares with a target price average of $2,291.17, and the stock recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $44.78 for Q2, exceeding expectations.

Northern Trust Corp lowered its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,412 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,327 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.54% of First Citizens BancShares worth $136,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 2.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 401,167 shares of the bank's stock worth $743,815,000 after acquiring an additional 9,070 shares during the period. Egerton Capital UK LLP boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 124,773 shares of the bank's stock valued at $231,344,000 after purchasing an additional 22,257 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 169,861.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 122,372 shares of the bank's stock valued at $226,892,000 after purchasing an additional 122,300 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in First Citizens BancShares by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 107,523 shares of the bank's stock worth $227,198,000 after purchasing an additional 48,994 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $149,963,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Citizens BancShares news, major shareholder Olivia Britton Holding purchased 409 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1,630.00 per share, with a total value of $666,670.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,764 shares in the company, valued at $2,875,320. This trade represents a 30.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1,698.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,019,250.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 32,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,869,625. The trade was a 1.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 1,494 shares of company stock worth $2,485,986. 13.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FCNCA shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $2,050.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler set a $2,150.00 price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $2,410.00 price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $1,900.00 to $2,050.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Citizens BancShares presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $2,291.17.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

Shares of FCNCA traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $2,032.72. 103,469 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 92,951. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,992.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,901.18. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,473.62 and a fifty-two week high of $2,412.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The bank reported $44.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.08 by $5.70. The firm had revenue of $2.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.21 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 16.37% and a return on equity of 11.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 167.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $1.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. First Citizens BancShares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.60%.

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.