Independent Advisor Alliance Has $400,000 Holdings in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Independent Advisor Alliance decreased its stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 545 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Bancorp by 3.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in First Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $384,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $659,000. Princeton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $303,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,275,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 17,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.96, for a total value of $780,290.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 67,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,974,069.84. This represents a 20.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut First Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FBNC stock opened at $47.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.82. First Bancorp has a one year low of $29.53 and a one year high of $50.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The business had revenue of $144.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $97.00 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 17.98% and a return on equity of 8.00%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Bancorp will post 2.72 EPS for the current 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.