First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Short Interest Update

First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 425,500 shares, a growth of 13.1% from the December 31st total of 376,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 86,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Institutional Trading of First Citizens BancShares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCNCA. FMR LLC grew its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 11.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 323,532 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $595,607,000 after purchasing an additional 33,713 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in First Citizens BancShares by 128.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 54,831 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,859,000 after acquiring an additional 30,828 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 183,992.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 23,932 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $440,580,000 after buying an additional 23,919 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 4,762.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 21,345 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,295,000 after acquiring an additional 20,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 337.2% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 26,125 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,095,000 after purchasing an additional 20,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCNCA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,100.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,600.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup downgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,700.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,323.50.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FCNCA traded down $62.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $2,142.01. 64,536 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 75,540. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.85. First Citizens BancShares has a 1 year low of $1,438.08 and a 1 year high of $2,412.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2,164.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,052.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $45.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $39.32 by $5.78. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 13.22%. Analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares will post 165.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $1.95 dividend. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.12%.

First Citizens BancShares Company Profile

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.