Barclays PLC Increases Stake in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA - Free Report) by 57.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,669 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,752 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC's holdings in First Advantage were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in First Advantage by 50.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,600,026 shares of the company's stock worth $111,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,716 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 8.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,131,188 shares of the company's stock worth $50,314,000 after purchasing an additional 254,219 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Advantage by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,294,063 shares of the company's stock worth $25,692,000 after buying an additional 9,718 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in First Advantage by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,253,081 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,874,000 after buying an additional 72,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its position in First Advantage by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,183,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,484,000 after buying an additional 24,217 shares during the period. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Advantage Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE FA traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.45. 714,243 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 551,341. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $18.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a current ratio of 3.85. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 581.67 and a beta of 1.17. First Advantage Co. has a 52 week low of $14.01 and a 52 week high of $20.79.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $199.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $204.39 million. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Advantage Co. will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on FA. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on First Advantage in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered First Advantage from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.29.

About First Advantage

First Advantage Corporation provides employment background screening, identity, and verification solutions worldwide. It offers pre-onboarding products and solutions, such as criminal background checks, drug/health screening, extended workforce screening, FBI channeling, identity checks and biometric fraud mitigation tools, education/work history verification, driver records and compliance, healthcare credentials, executive screening, and other screening products.