Sei Investments Co. Raises Stock Holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,195 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,935 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $2,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,340 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 66.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on FAF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens boosted their price target on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Insider Activity at First American Financial

In other news, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $815,006.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 195,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $31,454,906.40. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First American Financial Price Performance

FAF stock opened at $61.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.30 and a beta of 1.23. First American Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $51.60 and a 12 month high of $70.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.39.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 9.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 172.80%.

First American Financial Company Profile

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.