Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,016,491 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 106,000 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.99% of First American Financial worth $63,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in First American Financial during the third quarter valued at about $95,638,000. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC bought a new stake in First American Financial during the third quarter valued at about $43,431,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in First American Financial during the third quarter valued at about $36,803,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in First American Financial by 83.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 893,216 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $58,961,000 after acquiring an additional 405,487 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in First American Financial by 19.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,495,766 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $164,746,000 after acquiring an additional 405,146 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First American Financial news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the business'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 transaction of $200,202.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at $1,560,299.25. The trade was a 11.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total value of $7,121,355.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 494,574 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,454,906.40. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.50.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of FAF stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.87. The stock had a trading volume of 850,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,939. First American Financial Co. has a one year low of $51.60 and a one year high of $70.92. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $62.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.10 and a beta of 1.34.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. First American Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.