Insider Selling: First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Director Sells 17,750 Shares of Stock

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of First Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $780,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 67,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,974,069.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

First Bancorp Trading Down 1.3 %

First Bancorp stock traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $43.05. The stock had a trading volume of 64,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,724. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 1.03. First Bancorp has a twelve month low of $26.00 and a twelve month 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.

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

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.04%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $44,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in First Bancorp by 17,233.3% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $185,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Bancorp by 5.4% during 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 shares of First Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.