First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Sees Large Volume Increase on Analyst Upgrade

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $45.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Approximately 72,413 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the previous session’s volume of 157,062 shares.The stock last traded at $43.59 and had previously closed at $44.15.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Clara Capel sold 1,015 shares of First Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.05, for a total transaction of $30,500.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,648.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,799,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,122,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in First Bancorp by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,848,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,418,000 after buying an additional 112,422 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in First Bancorp by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 6,907 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 91.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,245,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,078,000 after acquiring an additional 595,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 77.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,041,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,613,000 after acquiring an additional 455,406 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancorp Stock Down 2.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $32.58 and a 200-day moving average of $33.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.11. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 20.17%. The business had revenue of $143.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 2.39 EPS for the current year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.77%.

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.