First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Stock Price Down 7.7%

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) shares dropped 7.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $31.78 and last traded at $31.84. Approximately 120,092 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 140,409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $97.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.63 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 19.06% and a return on equity of 7.97%. Equities analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in First Bancorp by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,789,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,228,000 after purchasing an additional 52,812 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,848,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,418,000 after buying an additional 112,422 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 91.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,245,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,078,000 after buying an additional 595,695 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 585,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,685,000 after buying an additional 73,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 556,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,584,000 after buying an additional 14,710 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

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.