Edge Capital Group LLC Buys Shares of 13,643 First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new position in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 13,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of First Bancorp by 82.3% in 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in First Bancorp by 22.3% in 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 grew its holdings in First Bancorp by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of First Bancorp by 157.3% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FBNC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Bancorp from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

First Bancorp Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of First Bancorp stock opened at $41.36 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48 and a beta of 1.04. First Bancorp has a 12-month low of $29.53 and a 12-month high of $50.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (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 3.27 EPS for the current year.

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.