New York State Common Retirement Fund Raises Stake in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) by 400.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,687 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,166 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.08% of First Advantage worth $1,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in First Advantage during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of First Advantage by 14.6% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 17,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Advantage by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 6,270 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in First Advantage by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 11,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Advantage by 102,058.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 34,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on FA shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on First Advantage from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on First Advantage from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on First Advantage in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

First Advantage Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE FA opened at $16.23 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.72. First Advantage Co. has a 52-week low of $12.10 and a 52-week high of $17.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.12, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.18.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $202.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.05 million. First Advantage had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 13.84%. On average, analysts anticipate that First Advantage Co. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph K. Jaeger sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.95, for a total transaction of $339,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 696,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,802,251.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

First Advantage Company Profile

First Advantage Corporation provides employment background screening, identity, and verification solutions worldwide. It offers pre-onboarding products and solutions, such as criminal background checks, drug/health screening, extended workforce screening, FBI channeling, identity checks and biometric fraud mitigation tools, education/work history verification, driver records and compliance, healthcare credentials, executive screening, and other screening products.