Jennison Associates LLC Increases Position in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 585,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 73,508 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $21,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBNC. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 3,504.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 3,539 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $184,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in First Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its position in First Bancorp by 57.1% during the 3rd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 7,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 2,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in First Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $240,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

First Bancorp Trading Down 8.6 %

Shares of FBNC opened at $31.55 on Friday. First Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.00 and a fifty-two week high of $38.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $97.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.63 million. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 20.58%. As a group, analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

First Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. First Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.77%.

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.