LPL Financial LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in First Bancorp $FBNC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has reduced its holdings in First Bancorp by 14.2%, selling 6,769 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 41,038 shares.
• The quarterly earnings report indicated $0.93 earnings per share, surpassing estimates by $0.05, with revenues totaling $111.02 million.
• First Bancorp recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, translating to an annual yield of 1.4% and a payout ratio of 39.32%.

LPL Financial LLC lessened its holdings in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,038 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,769 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.10% of First Bancorp worth $1,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 35,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 12,202 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 37,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $546,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 4,012.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 55,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FBNC shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of First Bancorp to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.67.

First Bancorp Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of FBNC stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $55.30. 190,502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 290,211. The business's fifty day moving average is $48.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. First Bancorp has a 12-month low of $34.50 and a 12-month high of $55.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63 and a beta of 0.96.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $111.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.22 million. As a group, research analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Cuts Dividend

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

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.