First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Upgraded by TD Cowen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) was upgraded by investment analysts at TD Cowen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a report on Friday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of 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. Zacks Research raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $2,325.00 target price on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,227.08.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $1,990.98 on Monday. First Citizens BancShares has a 12 month low of $1,623.76 and a 12 month high of $2,232.21. The stock has a market cap of $23.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,945.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,947.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 23rd. The bank reported $51.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $44.24 by $7.03. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.18% and a net margin of 15.21%.The firm had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 167.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Citizens BancShares

In other news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. purchased 92 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1,550.00 per share, for a total transaction of $142,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $4,403,550. The trade was a 3.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 258 shares of company stock valued at $404,236. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 435,278 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $778,785,000 after buying an additional 18,190 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 117,518.9% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 205,833 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $441,755,000 after buying an additional 205,658 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 124,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $266,273,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 123,048 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $264,087,000 after buying an additional 29,681 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 12,303 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.01% 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.