Suzanne S. Deferie Sells 17,750 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Stock

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of First Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $780,290.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 67,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,974,069.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

First Bancorp Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FBNC opened at $42.15 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.08 and a 200-day moving average of $35.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 1.03. First Bancorp has a twelve month low of $26.00 and a twelve month high of $45.41.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $143.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.00 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.39% and a net margin of 20.17%. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FBNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Bancorp from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in First Bancorp by 17,233.3% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $185,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in First Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $216,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

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.