First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $450,000 Position in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,712 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 77.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,041,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,613,000 after buying an additional 455,406 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,789,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,228,000 after buying an additional 52,812 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $4,071,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 8.5% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 84,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,700,000 after buying an additional 6,628 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on FBNC shares. StockNews.com raised First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $43.66 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.44. First Bancorp has a 52 week low of $26.00 and a 52 week high of $45.41. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.03.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $143.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 20.17%. Analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 31.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Bancorp

In other First Bancorp news, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total value of $989,748.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 196,416 shares in the company, valued at $8,526,418.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $780,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 67,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,974,069.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total value of $989,748.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 196,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,526,418.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,586 shares of company stock worth $1,859,154 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

About First Bancorp

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.