First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Holdings Increased by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 132.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in First American Financial by 34.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in First American Financial during the third quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in First American Financial in the third quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FAF shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.50.

First American Financial Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of FAF opened at $65.00 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.00 and a beta of 1.33. First American Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $51.60 and a 1-year high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 9.35%. On average, research analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 172.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $815,006.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares in the company, valued at $12,586,795.36. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.