Federated Hermes Inc. Lowers Holdings in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its position in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 365 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 426,746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,794,000 after buying an additional 26,149 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in First Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,720,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in First Bancorp by 17,233.3% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,789,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,228,000 after purchasing an additional 52,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FBNC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. StockNews.com cut First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 7th.

First Bancorp Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:FBNC opened at $42.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.08 and a 200 day moving average of $35.50.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued 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. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 20.17%. The firm had revenue of $143.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is 31.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 67,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,974,069.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mason Y. Garrett sold 22,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 196,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,526,418.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,974,069.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,586 shares of company stock worth $1,859,154 over the last 90 days. 3.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.