First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Short Interest Down 9.7% in January

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 829,200 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the January 15th total of 918,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 195,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FBNC traded down $0.12 on Monday, hitting $43.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 84,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 170,439. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.42. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47 and a beta of 1.04. First Bancorp has a 1 year low of $29.53 and a 1 year high of $50.34.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 8.04%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 77,074 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,202,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,864,000 after purchasing an additional 418,752 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 976,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,628,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Bancorp by 2.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FBNC. StockNews.com cut First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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.

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.