Edge Capital Group LLC Acquires Shares of 13,643 First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 13,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FBNC. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in First Bancorp by 82.3% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in First Bancorp by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 2,171 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in First Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

FBNC stock opened at $41.36 on Tuesday. First Bancorp has a 1-year low of $29.53 and a 1-year high of $50.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.56. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 8.04%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on FBNC shares. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

About First Bancorp

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.