Natixis Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 30,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in First Bancorp by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,104,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,166,000 after acquiring an additional 136,002 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in First Bancorp by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 802,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,615,000 after buying an additional 124,992 shares in the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management purchased a new position in First Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,568,000. Chatham Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 131.4% in the 2nd quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 76,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,456,000 after buying an additional 43,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in First Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $877,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ FBNC opened at $48.58 on Wednesday. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $29.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 17.98%. The company had revenue of $144.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.00 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Bancorp news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 2,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total transaction of $89,115.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 65,618 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,099.86. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.