D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 38,419 Shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA - Free Report) by 66.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,315 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,419 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in First Advantage were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of First Advantage by 106.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 59,377 shares of the company's stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 30,669 shares in the last quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of First Advantage by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP now owns 1,849,426 shares of the company's stock worth $34,640,000 after purchasing an additional 16,567 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of First Advantage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $132,000. ASK Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Advantage during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,661,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of First Advantage by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 565,327 shares of the company's stock worth $10,589,000 after purchasing an additional 139,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.91% of the company's stock.

First Advantage Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:FA traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.05. 1,016,079 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 838,382. The company has a fifty day moving average of $15.30 and a 200 day moving average of $16.93. First Advantage Co. has a 12 month low of $12.32 and a 12 month high of $20.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a current ratio of 3.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 568.33 and a beta of 1.20.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.04. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 109.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that First Advantage Co. will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of First Advantage from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of First Advantage from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of First Advantage from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.00.

First Advantage 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.