ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 8,079 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC cut its FirstCash stake by 47.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,079 shares and leaving it with 8,797 shares valued at about $1.4 million.
• Insiders were also sellers: COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares and insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares, while insiders now own 2.86% of the company.
• FirstCash posted solid results and raised expectations, with Q1 EPS of $2.69 beating estimates and revenue of $1.05 billion topping forecasts; analysts currently have a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $198.

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 47.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,797 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,079 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in FirstCash were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,765 shares of the company's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the company's stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 8,703 shares of the company's stock worth $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 20,263 shares of the company's stock worth $3,230,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FirstCash news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $2,284,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 140,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,181,902.54. This trade represents a 6.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $679,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,337,042.46. The trade was a 8.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,500 shares of company stock worth $3,972,130. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings cut FirstCash from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised FirstCash from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $198.00.

FirstCash Stock Performance

Shares of FCFS opened at $227.59 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $208.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.77. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.21 and a 52-week high of $235.97.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Research analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.05%.

FirstCash Profile

FirstCash, Inc NASDAQ: FCFS is a leading integrated operator of pawn stores and provider of short-term consumer loan services in the United States and Mexico. Through its retail pawn outlets, FirstCash offers collateral-based loans secured by personal property, enabling customers to access liquidity without a credit history or traditional bank account. The company also purchases, trades and sells a broad range of secondhand merchandise, including electronics, jewelry and power tools, through its network of conveniently located stores.

In addition to its pawn-broking activities, FirstCash provides unsecured consumer loans designed to meet urgent cash needs.

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