Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 255 Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in FirstService were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 486.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,308,000 after acquiring an additional 389,129 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 388,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,992,000 after acquiring an additional 63,807 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 200,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,634,000 after acquiring an additional 10,191 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 457,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,138,000 after acquiring an additional 166,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FirstService by 253.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,503,000 after acquiring an additional 13,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FSV shares. StockNews.com raised FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James upped their price objective on FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstService has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.67.

FirstService Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FSV opened at $169.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $175.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.73. FirstService Co. has a one year low of $141.26 and a one year high of $197.84. The firm has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.16 and a beta of 1.12.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from FirstService’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio is 37.04%.

About FirstService

FirstService Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides residential property management and other essential property services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands. The FirstService Residential segment offers services for private residential communities, such as condominiums, co-operatives, homeowner associations, master-planned communities, active adult and lifestyle communities, and various other residential developments.