First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Director Jonathan Been Sells 14,800 Shares of Stock

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) Director Jonathan Been sold 14,800 shares of First Community stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.05, for a total value of $503,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 120,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,108,302.75. This trade represents a 10.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

First Community Price Performance

FCCO traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.56. 38,772 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 74,436. First Community Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.92 and a 12-month high of $35.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $324.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.33.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.15. First Community had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 18.32%.The firm had revenue of $25.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.69 million. Research analysts forecast that First Community Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a boost from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. First Community’s payout ratio is currently 25.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on FCCO shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Community from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on First Community from $36.00 to $37.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Community has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

Institutional Trading of First Community

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCCO. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in First Community in the first quarter valued at $8,430,000. Maltese Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First Community by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 252,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,487,000 after purchasing an additional 12,769 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Community by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 205,992 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,021,000 after purchasing an additional 20,970 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Community by 115.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 195,527 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,411,000 after purchasing an additional 104,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Community by 103.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 174,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,260,000 after purchasing an additional 88,807 shares during the last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About First Community

First Community Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: FCCO) is the bank holding company for First Community Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Bluefield, West Virginia. Through its subsidiary, the company delivers a comprehensive range of financial services to individuals, small businesses and larger commercial clients. Its operations are focused on community banking, with an emphasis on personalized relationship management and local decision-making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts, as well as consumer and commercial lending solutions.