Insider Buying: First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Director Purchases $24,711.17 in Stock

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Director Carlie C. Mclamb, Jr. acquired 811 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $30.47 per share, with a total value of $24,711.17. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 33,139 shares in the company, valued at $1,009,745.33. This represents a 2.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $41.71 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $29.53 and a fifty-two week high of $50.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.55.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 14.19%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,293,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,862,000 after acquiring an additional 77,074 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,202,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,864,000 after purchasing an additional 418,752 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Bancorp by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 976,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,628,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in First Bancorp by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 828,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,423,000 after buying an additional 9,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 797,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,058,000 after buying an additional 18,749 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FBNC shares. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.