Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 6,460 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 80,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,460 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $3,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 807.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on First Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on First Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.33.

First Bancorp Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:FBNC opened at $41.53 on Friday. First Bancorp has a twelve month low of $29.53 and a twelve month high of $50.34. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.52. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $105.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.81 million. Analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

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.