Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Holdings in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,273 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.28% of FirstService worth $23,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FSV. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in FirstService by 2,136.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 209,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,853,000 after buying an additional 199,937 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in FirstService by 6.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,733,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,427,000 after buying an additional 174,970 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in FirstService by 4.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,654,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,363,000 after buying an additional 76,503 shares in the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its position in shares of FirstService by 25.3% in the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 246,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,008,000 after purchasing an additional 49,790 shares during the period. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of FirstService by 3.2% in the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,426,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,409,000 after purchasing an additional 44,236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstService Stock Performance

FSV opened at $197.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 82.10 and a beta of 1.05. FirstService Co. has a twelve month low of $141.26 and a twelve month high of $197.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $184.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV) (TSE:FSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. FirstService had a net margin of 2.19% and a return on equity of 16.68%. FirstService’s quarterly revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FirstService Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. FirstService’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FSV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of FirstService from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of FirstService from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of FirstService from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.33.

About FirstService

FirstService Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides residential property management and other essential property services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands. The FirstService Residential segment offers services for private residential communities, such as condominiums, co-operatives, homeowner associations, master-planned communities, active adult and lifestyle communities, and various other residential developments.