** Shares of First Citizens Bancshares FCNCA.O rise 1.8% to $1,762.5 in early trading
** Piper Sandler upgrades rating to "overweight" from "neutral"
** "FCNCA stands to benefit from a sizable share repurchase program that should become much more impactful at these lower prices" - Piper Sandler analysts said in a note
** In January, co's CEO Frank Holding said its solid capital and liquidity positions allowed it to buy back more than 460,000 shares of its Class A common stock for $963 million during Q4
** Nine brokerages rate company "buy" or higher, and five rate "hold"; median PT at $2,517.5 - LSEG data
** As of last close, stock is down 18% YTD
(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru)
((Ateev.Bhandari@thomsonreuters.com;))