Public Sector Pension Investment Board Sells 3,100 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lowered its holdings in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $3,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in First Bancorp by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 69,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of First Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total transaction of $780,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,974,069.84. This trade represents a 20.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $47.30 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. First Bancorp has a 12-month low of $29.53 and a 12-month high of $50.34.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The firm had revenue of $144.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $97.00 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 8.00%. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

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.