Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 127,041 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,932,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,573,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,707,000 after buying an additional 78,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,700,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $112,306,000 after buying an additional 12,668 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,530,977 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,594,000 after buying an additional 37,866 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $95,638,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,124,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $70,236,000 after purchasing an additional 6,708 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FAF. Stephens boosted their price target on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

First American Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of FAF opened at $64.90 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.37. First American Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $51.60 and a 52 week high of $70.92. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.92 and a beta of 1.34.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 172.80%.

Insider Activity at First American Financial

In related news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total value of $200,202.93. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This represents a 11.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total transaction of $7,121,355.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 494,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About First American Financial

First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally.