First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to “Overweight” Rating

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) was upgraded by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $2,250.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price points to a potential upside of 28.14% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,700.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Citizens BancShares from $2,500.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on First Citizens BancShares from $2,456.00 to $2,568.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,323.50.

First Citizens BancShares Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ FCNCA opened at $1,755.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2,099.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2,065.44. First Citizens BancShares has a fifty-two week low of $1,515.02 and a fifty-two week high of $2,412.93.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.22% and a net margin of 18.55%. On average, analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares will post 167.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Craig L. Nix bought 17 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1,881.13 per share, for a total transaction of $31,979.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,146,369.33. This trade represents a 1.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 13.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Citizens BancShares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 16 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 18 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of First Citizens BancShares in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 78.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.