Covey Capital Advisors LLC Sells 51 Shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)

Covey Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 343 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. First Citizens BancShares accounts for about 0.7% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Citizens BancShares were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 11.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 323,532 shares of the bank’s stock worth $595,607,000 after acquiring an additional 33,713 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in First Citizens BancShares by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 58,529 shares of the bank’s stock worth $107,749,000 after purchasing an additional 7,613 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its stake in First Citizens BancShares by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 56,798 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $104,562,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in First Citizens BancShares by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,156 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $86,812,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its stake in shares of First Citizens BancShares by 225.2% during the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 42,159 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,979,000 after buying an additional 29,194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCNCA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush dropped their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,150.00 to $2,000.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded First Citizens BancShares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on First Citizens BancShares from $2,550.00 to $2,300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of First Citizens BancShares from $2,025.00 to $2,625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,093.40.

First Citizens BancShares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FCNCA opened at $2,308.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. First Citizens BancShares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,363.97 and a fifty-two week high of $2,388.78. The stock has a market cap of $32.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $2,049.18 and a 200-day moving average of $1,907.40.

First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $45.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $47.40 by ($1.53). The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. First Citizens BancShares had a return on equity of 13.63% and a net margin of 17.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $55.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Citizens BancShares, Inc. will post 187.88 earnings per share for the current year.

First Citizens BancShares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $1.95 dividend. This represents a $7.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from First Citizens BancShares’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. First Citizens BancShares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.76%.

First Citizens BancShares 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.