First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 50.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,464 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 107,190 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.10% of First American Financial worth $6,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 314.7% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,967 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 2,868.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 125,180 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,729,000 after buying an additional 120,963 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,530,977 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $95,594,000 after buying an additional 37,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $593,000. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at First American Financial

In other news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total value of $200,202.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This trade represents a 11.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FAF shares. Stephens increased their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.50.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FAF traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.65. 751,383 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,871. First American Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $51.60 and a 1 year high of $70.92. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $62.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.24. The firm has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.52 and a beta of 1.33.

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

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. First American Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 172.80%.

First American Financial 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.