Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 13,927 Shares of First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its holdings in First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,736,968 shares of the bank's stock after selling 13,927 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 1.06% of First BanCorp. worth $32,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FBP. Norges Bank bought a new position in First BanCorp. in the fourth quarter valued at $35,275,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of First BanCorp. by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,871,338 shares of the bank's stock valued at $90,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460,789 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of First BanCorp. by 267.2% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 705,075 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,107,000 after buying an additional 513,063 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of First BanCorp. during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,792,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of First BanCorp. by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,685,588 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,926,000 after purchasing an additional 248,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at First BanCorp.

In related news, EVP Carlos Power sold 10,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.75, for a total value of $214,160.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 176,222 shares in the company, valued at $3,656,606.50. This trade represents a 5.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FBP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First BanCorp. from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on First BanCorp. from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.80.

First BanCorp. Stock Performance

FBP traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $20.34. The stock had a trading volume of 225,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,209. The business's 50-day moving average price is $18.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.53. First BanCorp. has a 12-month low of $16.40 and a 12-month high of $22.40. The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

First BanCorp. (NYSE:FBP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $248.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $243.08 million. First BanCorp. had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 24.37%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that First BanCorp. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

First BanCorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. First BanCorp.'s payout ratio is currently 39.13%.

First BanCorp. Profile

First BanCorp. operates as a bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico that provides a range of financial products and services to consumers and commercial customers. The company operates through six segments: Commercial and Corporate Banking, Mortgage Banking, Consumer (Retail) Banking, Treasury and Investments, United States Operations, and Virgin Islands Operations.