State Street Corp Has $71.46 Million Stock Holdings in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

State Street Corp reduced its stake in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,709,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,283 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 4.13% of First Bancorp worth $71,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of First Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new stake in First Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $562,000. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $424,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in First Bancorp by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 65,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,722,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 28.2% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 423,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,612,000 after buying an additional 93,072 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FBNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

First Bancorp Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $47.35 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. First Bancorp has a 12-month low of $29.53 and a 12-month high of $50.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.32.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $144.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.00 million. On average, analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, January 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. First Bancorp’s payout ratio is 35.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 67,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,974,069.84. This trade represents a 20.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.65% of the stock is 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.