J Randolph Potter Sells 5,000 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Stock

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) Director J Randolph Potter sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $127,482.48. This trade represents a 62.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

First Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FBNC opened at $43.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.05. First Bancorp has a 12 month low of $29.53 and a 12 month high of $50.34.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 17.98%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on FBNC shares. StockNews.com cut First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in First Bancorp by 82.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of First Bancorp by 157.3% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in First Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Bancorp

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.