Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Position in First Bancorp $FBNC

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 836,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,510 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 2.02% of First Bancorp worth $33,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 19,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in First Bancorp by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 22,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in First Bancorp by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in First Bancorp by 1,412.9% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 938 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on FBNC. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research raised First Bancorp to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.67.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $55.38 on Tuesday. First Bancorp has a one year low of $34.50 and a one year high of $56.45. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.91.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 17.65%.The business had revenue of $111.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.22 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. First Bancorp's payout ratio is 39.32%.

First Bancorp 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.

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