Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 479 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 479 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 372.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 742,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,654,000 after acquiring an additional 585,338 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,202,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,864,000 after acquiring an additional 418,752 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 979.3% in the fourth quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 247,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,875,000 after acquiring an additional 224,419 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,293,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,862,000 after acquiring an additional 77,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 486,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,403,000 after acquiring an additional 63,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on FBNC. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler began coverage on First Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on First Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on First Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.33.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $42.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.78 and a 200 day moving average of $42.70. First Bancorp has a 12 month low of $29.53 and a 12 month high of $50.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $105.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.81 million. On average, research analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal 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.