Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 688 Shares of First Bancorp $FBNC

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 506,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 688 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.23% of First Bancorp worth $20,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in First Bancorp by 372.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 742,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,654,000 after acquiring an additional 585,338 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,293,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,862,000 after purchasing an additional 77,074 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in shares of First Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $3,206,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 4,012.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,288,000 after purchasing an additional 55,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in First Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,434,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FBNC stock opened at $51.90 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.99. First Bancorp has a one year low of $34.50 and a one year high of $53.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.96% and a net margin of 17.65%.The company had revenue of $111.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.22 million. On average, analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Bancorp Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FBNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Stephens boosted their price target on First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded First Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.67.

First Bancorp 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.