Wall Street Zen Downgrades First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) to Sell

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FCNCA. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of First Citizens BancShares in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,375.00 to $2,300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of First Citizens BancShares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2,154.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Citizens BancShares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2,215.91.

First Citizens BancShares Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:FCNCA opened at $2,108.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,988.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2,008.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. First Citizens BancShares has a 12-month low of $1,623.76 and a 12-month high of $2,232.21. The firm has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.62.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $44.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $43.31 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 15.62%.During the same period last year, the company earned $37.79 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that First Citizens BancShares will post 177.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at First Citizens BancShares

In related news, CEO Frank B. Holding, Jr. acquired 5,940 shares of First Citizens BancShares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1,726.82 per share, for a total transaction of $10,257,310.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 38,111 shares in the company, valued at $65,810,837.02. This trade represents a 18.46% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 7,288 shares of company stock worth $12,725,768 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 4.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 435,278 shares of the bank’s stock worth $778,785,000 after purchasing an additional 18,190 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 117,518.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 205,833 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $441,755,000 after purchasing an additional 205,658 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 125,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $237,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 123,048 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $264,087,000 after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 11.2% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 12,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.01% of the company’s stock.

About First Citizens BancShares

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.