First Citizens BancShares Inc. (FCNCA): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

Is First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) a sound investment today? The smart money is getting more optimistic. The number of long hedge fund positions increased by 1 lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of gauges investors can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of motivations for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action encompassing First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA).

What have hedge funds been doing with First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 11% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA). Royce & Associates has a $19.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Ken Gray and Steve Walsh of Bryn Mawr Capital, with a $14.4 million position; 1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Howard Marks’s Oaktree Capital Management, Matthew Lindenbaum’s Basswood Capital and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Now, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Tudor Investment Corp, managed by Paul Tudor Jones, assembled the largest position in First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA). Tudor Investment Corp had 0.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA). These stocks are WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC), SCBT Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:SCBT), BankUnited (NYSE:BKU), United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI), and Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV). This group of stocks belong to the regional – mid-atlantic banks industry and their market caps are closest to FCNCA’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by our research, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and First Citizens BancShares Inc. (NASDAQ:FCNCA) is an important part of this process.

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