Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 27,927 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 572,682 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,927 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.39% of First Bancorp worth $25,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in First Bancorp by 82.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 587 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 157.3% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in First Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $205,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on FBNC. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FBNC traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.87. The company had a trading volume of 138,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,933. First Bancorp has a 12 month low of $29.53 and a 12 month high of $50.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $42.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.51.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.04. First Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 14.19%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current 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.