Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Purchases 1,490 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,845 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,573,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,707,000 after acquiring an additional 78,022 shares during the period. 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 worth $112,306,000 after buying an additional 12,668 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of First American Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $95,638,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,124,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $70,236,000 after buying an additional 6,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Price Performance

FAF stock opened at $63.87 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.60 and a fifty-two week high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 172.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of First American Financial 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 494,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,454,906.40. The trade was a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens raised their target price 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 raised their target price on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

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.