Peregrine Capital Management LLC Trims Holdings in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,888 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.33% of First Bancorp worth $5,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FBNC. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,784,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,649,000 after acquiring an additional 297,144 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Bancorp by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 976,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,628,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 600,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,979,000 after buying an additional 4,656 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 493,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,539,000 after buying an additional 14,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of First Bancorp by 28.2% during 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 buying an additional 93,072 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:FBNC opened at $43.27 on Wednesday. First Bancorp has a 52 week low of $29.53 and a 52 week high of $50.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that First Bancorp will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on FBNC. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

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.