Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Lowers Stake in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,703 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.07% of First Citizens BancShares worth $20,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in First Citizens BancShares by 107.2% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 462 shares of the bank’s stock worth $976,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new position in First Citizens BancShares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $632,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,838 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,224,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the 4th quarter worth $298,426,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 392,097 shares of the bank’s stock worth $828,510,000 after purchasing an additional 103,137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FCNCA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $2,700.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,303.00 to $2,384.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,288.08.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Performance

FCNCA opened at $1,835.10 on Friday. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,518.00 and a 1-year high of $2,412.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $24.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2,025.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2,053.90.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The bank reported $45.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $39.32 by $5.78. First Citizens BancShares had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 13.22%. Equities analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 167.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Citizens BancShares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $1.95 dividend. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. First Citizens BancShares’s payout ratio is 4.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Craig L. Nix bought 17 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1,881.13 per share, for a total transaction of $31,979.21. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 1,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,146,369.33. The trade was a 1.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.