California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 191,398 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,520 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $11,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bar Harbor Wealth Management boosted its stake in First American Financial by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 96,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,033,000 after acquiring an additional 29,324 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 5.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,489 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in First American Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $1,476,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $112,306,000 after buying an additional 12,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens raised their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

First American Financial Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of FAF stock opened at $61.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.30 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.37. First American Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $51.60 and a 52 week high of $70.92.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. Analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 172.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total value of $7,121,355.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 494,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,454,906.40. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $12,586,795.36. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.