Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Position in First Bancorp $FBNC

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 4,309.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,541 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $393,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in First Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $236,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $1,162,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of First Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $1,335,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 16,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.67.

First Bancorp Price Performance

First Bancorp stock opened at $51.01 on Friday. First Bancorp has a 12 month low of $34.50 and a 12 month high of $56.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43 and a beta of 1.06.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.08. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.50% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $89.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.47 million. Equities 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.