Prudential Financial Inc. Increases Holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 6,233.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 706,211 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 695,060 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.69% of First American Financial worth $44,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 66.9% during the 4th 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 boosted its holdings 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of First American Financial by 14.8% during the 4th 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 period. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First American Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:FAF opened at $65.71 on Wednesday. First American Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $51.60 and a 52 week high of $70.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.57 and a beta of 1.34.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is currently 172.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total transaction of $200,202.93. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This represents a 11.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $815,006.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565 in the last ninety days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens raised their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

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.