First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Stake Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 27th, 2023

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC – Get Rating) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 230,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,540 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.65% of First Bancorp worth $9,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in First Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $5,833,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in First Bancorp by 35.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 481,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,793,000 after acquiring an additional 126,148 shares during the period. JCSD Capital LLC boosted its position in First Bancorp by 175.8% during the 4th quarter. JCSD Capital LLC now owns 183,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,877,000 after acquiring an additional 117,208 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in First Bancorp by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,252,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $192,129,000 after acquiring an additional 114,081 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in First Bancorp by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,532,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,657,000 after acquiring an additional 109,703 shares during the period. 69.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James reduced their price target on First Bancorp from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on First Bancorp in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on First Bancorp from $44.00 to $39.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Carlie C. Mclamb, Jr. bought 655 shares of First Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $41.18 per share, with a total value of $26,972.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $840,648.52. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Bancorp Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $31.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.09. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.25 and a fifty-two week high of $49.00.

First Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 24.86%.

First Bancorp Profile

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First Bancorp (North Carolina) operates as a bank holding company, which engages in banking activities, with the acceptance of deposits and the making of loans. It provides a range of deposit products such as checking, savings, NOW, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits, including various types of certificates of deposits and individual retirement accounts.