Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC - Free Report) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 490,267 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,421 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 1.19% of First Bancorp worth $20,390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in First Bancorp by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,104,258 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $67,166,000 after buying an additional 136,002 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 802,490 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,615,000 after acquiring an additional 124,992 shares in the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of First Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $3,568,000. Chatham Capital Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Bancorp by 131.4% during the second quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 76,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,456,000 after purchasing an additional 43,701 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $1,275,000. Institutional investors own 68.36% of the company's stock.

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

View Our Latest Analysis on FBNC

FBNC stock opened at $48.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29 and a beta of 1.02. First Bancorp has a 52-week low of $29.53 and a 52-week high of $48.21. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $43.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.31.

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

In related news, Director Suzanne S. Deferie sold 2,036 shares of First Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total transaction of $89,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 65,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,872,099.86. This trade represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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