Voya Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in First Bancorp $FBNC

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,151 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in First Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 1,412.9% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $128,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in First Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $243,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 8.6% during the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancorp Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:FBNC opened at $53.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.15. 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 52-week low of $34.50 and a 52-week high of $56.45.

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

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FBNC shares. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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, Zacks Research raised First Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.67.

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.