Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Stock Position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 141,394 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,673 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $8,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bar Harbor Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 96,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,033,000 after purchasing an additional 29,324 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in First American Financial by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 8,047 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,180,000 after acquiring an additional 10,489 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in First American Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,476,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,700,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $112,306,000 after purchasing an additional 12,668 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FAF shares. Stephens upped their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at First American Financial

In other news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. The trade was a 11.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at $31,454,906.40. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565 over the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First American Financial Trading Down 2.2 %

First American Financial stock opened at $59.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.74 and a 200-day moving average of $64.12. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.96 and a beta of 1.23. First American Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $51.60 and a 52 week high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 172.80%.

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.