First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $53.60 and traded as high as $58.96. First Bancorp shares last traded at $56.79, with a volume of 264,224 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on FBNC shares. Raymond James Financial raised shares of First Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler downgraded First Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.25.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.90. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.16. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 19.24%. On average, research analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

First Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a boost from First Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Mary Clara Capel sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.31, for a total transaction of $296,550.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,924. This trade represents a 19.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,142 shares of company stock valued at $592,276. Corporate insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in First Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,849,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,722,000 after buying an additional 11,439 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,012,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,661,000 after acquiring an additional 169,363 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,314,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,516,000 after acquiring an additional 429,769 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 726,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,892,000 after purchasing an additional 123,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in First Bancorp by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 576,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,502,000 after purchasing an additional 163,026 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Bancorp Company Profile

First Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Bank, offering a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services. Its core offerings include business lending, treasury and cash management, residential and commercial mortgage financing, and consumer deposit products. Through its subsidiary, First Bank provides online and branch-based banking solutions, including checking and savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and digital banking tools designed to meet the needs of individuals, small- to mid-sized businesses, and professional institutions.

The company maintains a network of full-service banking centers and loan production offices across North Carolina and South Carolina, with a focus on markets in the Piedmont, Sandhills and coastal regions.