Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,105 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $2,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 valued at $100,862,000 after purchasing an additional 77,074 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,202,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,864,000 after acquiring an additional 418,752 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 828,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,423,000 after buying an additional 9,140 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 797,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,058,000 after purchasing an additional 18,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in First Bancorp by 372.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 742,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,654,000 after buying an additional 585,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens raised their price objective on First Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on First Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

First Bancorp Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $41.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 0.85. First Bancorp has a 1 year low of $29.53 and a 1 year high of $50.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.67.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. First Bancorp had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 8.04%. The business had revenue of $105.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.81 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.