Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,444 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of First Bancorp worth $8,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the first quarter worth $185,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Bancorp by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Bancorp by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,799,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,122,000 after acquiring an additional 10,414 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 1.2% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 33,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 0.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,828,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,038,000 after purchasing an additional 6,907 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of FBNC opened at $45.32 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.21. First Bancorp has a 1 year low of $29.53 and a 1 year high of $48.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.02.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 8.00%. The business had revenue of $144.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.00 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at First Bancorp

In related news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 2,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total transaction of $89,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 65,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,872,099.86. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FBNC. StockNews.com cut shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

First Bancorp 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.