William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys 124,992 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 18.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 802,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,992 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $25,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in First Bancorp by 17,233.3% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $185,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in First Bancorp by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novare Capital Management LLC bought a new position in First Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $216,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Bancorp

In other First Bancorp news, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total value of $989,748.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 196,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,526,418.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total transaction of $989,748.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 196,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,526,418.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Clara Capel sold 1,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total transaction of $30,500.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,648.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 7th.

First Bancorp Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:FBNC opened at $42.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 1.03. First Bancorp has a 52 week low of $26.00 and a 52 week high of $45.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.07.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $143.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 20.17% and a return on equity of 8.39%. On average, equities analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.77%.

First Bancorp Company Profile

First Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides banking products and services for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. The company accepts deposit products, such as checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts.