First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Stock Holdings Raised by Ariel Investments LLC

Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,993,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 359,777 shares during the quarter. First American Financial accounts for about 2.7% of Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 3.88% of First American Financial worth $249,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in First American Financial by 66.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in First American Financial by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in First American Financial by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake 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 valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,510 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First American Financial Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:FAF opened at $61.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.59. The stock has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.42 and a beta of 1.23. First American Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $51.85 and a twelve month high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.19. First American Financial had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on FAF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First American Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of First American Financial from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total transaction of $200,202.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,560,299.25. This trade represents a 11.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company 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.