First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Shares Acquired by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 45.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,171 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,315 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.10% of First American Financial worth $6,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of First American Financial by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,340 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in First American Financial by 5.8% during 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in First American Financial by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of First American Financial by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,510 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

First American Financial Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE FAF opened at $61.62 on Friday. First American Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $51.60 and a 12-month high of $70.92. The company has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.30 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.39.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted 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 return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. As a group, equities 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is currently 172.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total value of $7,121,355.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $815,006.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.