Northern Trust Corp Acquires 139,536 Shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA - Free Report) by 32.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 565,327 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 139,536 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.33% of First Advantage worth $10,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FA. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of First Advantage during the 4th quarter valued at about $71,695,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of First Advantage by 246.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,227,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,903,000 after buying an additional 3,718,096 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Advantage by 337.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,584,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,129,000 after buying an additional 2,764,534 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of First Advantage by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,350,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,399,000 after buying an additional 2,750,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Advantage by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,425,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,076,000 after buying an additional 2,409,233 shares in the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on First Advantage from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $15.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded First Advantage from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.40.

First Advantage Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NYSE FA traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.88. 713,695 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 827,983. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 562.67 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company's 50 day moving average price is $14.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.98. First Advantage Co. has a 12 month low of $12.32 and a 12 month high of $20.79.

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

About First Advantage

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.