The Director of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC), Suzanne DeFerie, Just Sold 25% Of Their Holding

We wouldn't blame First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Suzanne DeFerie, the Director recently netted about US$1.0m selling shares at an average price of US$34.03. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 25%, which is notable but not too bad.

Check out our latest analysis for First Bancorp

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At First Bancorp

In fact, the recent sale by Suzanne DeFerie was the biggest sale of First Bancorp shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was selling shares at around the current price of US$33.34. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. In this case, the big sale took place at around the current price, so it's not too bad (but it's still not a positive).

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$337k for 14.08k shares. On the other hand they divested 55.54k shares, for US$2.0m. All up, insiders sold more shares in First Bancorp than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. First Bancorp insiders own about US$23m worth of shares. That equates to 2.4% of the company. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At First Bancorp Tell Us?

The stark truth for First Bancorp is that there has been more insider selling than insider buying in the last three months. And our longer term analysis of insider transactions didn't bring confidence, either. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We'd practice some caution before buying! So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. At Simply Wall St, we've found that First Bancorp has 2 warning signs (1 is a bit unpleasant!) that deserve your attention before going any further with your analysis.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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