Norges Bank Invests $75.78 Million in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,213,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $75,780,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.18% of First American Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in First American Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $95,638,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 13,222.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 849,279 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $53,029,000 after buying an additional 842,904 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 6,233.2% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 706,211 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $44,096,000 after buying an additional 695,060 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 83.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of First American Financial by 239.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 192,900 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $12,733,000 after acquiring an additional 136,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FAF traded down $3.41 during trading on Monday, reaching $58.22. 1,538,330 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 641,292. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.09 and a 200-day moving average of $64.29. First American Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $51.60 and a 52-week high of $70.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.58 and a beta of 1.23.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 9.35%. Analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. First American Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 172.80%.

Insider Transactions at First American Financial

In other news, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, 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.

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.