Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New $895,000 Investment in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 20,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $895,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in First Bancorp by 82.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in First Bancorp by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in First Bancorp by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FBNC opened at $40.32 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.01 and a 200-day moving average of $43.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. First Bancorp has a twelve month low of $29.53 and a twelve month high of $50.34.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 8.04%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FBNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 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.