Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 28,300 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 28,300 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.19% of First American Financial worth $12,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAF. Bar Harbor Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of First American Financial by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 96,627 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,033,000 after purchasing an additional 29,324 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in First American Financial by 15.2% during the third 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,820 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $14,180,000 after buying an additional 10,489 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,476,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First American Financial news, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $815,006.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares in the company, valued at $12,586,795.36. The trade was a 6.08 % 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, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,560,299.25. This represents a 11.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565 over the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FAF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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.

First American Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

FAF stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.24. The company had a trading volume of 592,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 654,374. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.39 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $63.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.94. First American Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $51.60 and a 12-month high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share 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, analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 3.65%. First American Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 172.80%.

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.