Lynx Investment Advisory Purchases 338 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Lynx Investment Advisory grew its holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of First American Financial by 66.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in First American Financial by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in 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 worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total value of $7,121,355.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This trade represents a 11.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First American Financial Stock Performance

FAF stock opened at $64.90 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.34 and its 200 day moving average is $64.36. The firm has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.92 and a beta of 1.34. 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 released 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is 172.80%.

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.