Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Position in First Bancorp $FBNC

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,688 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.24% of First Bancorp worth $5,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 0.3% in the third quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN now owns 64,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 22,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 5.1% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 7,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FBNC. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.25.

Insider Activity at First Bancorp

In other news, Director Michael Goodwin Mayer sold 44,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.58, for a total transaction of $2,596,499.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 41,491 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,542.78. This trade represents a 51.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $59.27 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.81. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $40.00 and a 1-year high of $62.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $122.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.21 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 20.59% and a return on equity of 10.86%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

First Bancorp Company Profile

First Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Bank, offering a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services. Its core offerings include business lending, treasury and cash management, residential and commercial mortgage financing, and consumer deposit products. Through its subsidiary, First Bank provides online and branch-based banking solutions, including checking and savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and digital banking tools designed to meet the needs of individuals, small- to mid-sized businesses, and professional institutions.

The company maintains a network of full-service banking centers and loan production offices across North Carolina and South Carolina, with a focus on markets in the Piedmont, Sandhills and coastal regions.