Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Buys 224,419 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 979.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 247,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 224,419 shares during the period. First Bancorp makes up about 1.4% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $10,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FBNC. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 20.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,784,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,649,000 after purchasing an additional 297,144 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in First Bancorp by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 423,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,612,000 after acquiring an additional 93,072 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in First Bancorp by 220.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 104,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,351,000 after acquiring an additional 71,977 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in First Bancorp by 142.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 79,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 46,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 85.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,887,000 after acquiring an additional 31,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC opened at $43.26 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $44.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54 and a beta of 1.04. First Bancorp has a 52 week low of $29.53 and a 52 week high of $50.34.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 14.19%. Analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.