Princeton Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in First Bancorp $FBNC

Princeton Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FBNC. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 205,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,262,000 after buying an additional 5,409 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 28.9% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 16,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in First Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $1,335,000. Finally, one8zero8 LLC lifted its stake in First Bancorp by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. one8zero8 LLC now owns 14,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 2,999 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.67.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FBNC opened at $50.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. First Bancorp has a 1 year low of $34.50 and a 1 year high of $56.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.46.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.08. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.50% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The business had revenue of $89.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.47 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.