First Advantage (NYSE:FA) President Sells $155,430.00 in Stock

Key Points

• First Advantage President Joelle Smith sold 9,900 shares of the company's stock for approximately $155,430, reducing her ownership by 18.81% to 42,727 shares.
• The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 111.7% year-over-year revenue increase.
• First Advantage's stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $20.25 and recent analyst upgrades, including a "strong-buy" rating from Zacks.

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) President Joelle M. Smith sold 9,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.70, for a total transaction of $155,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 42,727 shares in the company, valued at $670,813.90. The trade was a 18.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

First Advantage Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:FA traded down $0.21 on Monday, hitting $15.11. The stock had a trading volume of 545,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,022,796. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.05. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. First Advantage Co. has a 1-year low of $12.32 and a 1-year high of $20.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 503.67 and a beta of 1.23.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 111.7% on a year-over-year basis. First Advantage has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.860-1.030 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that First Advantage Co. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of First Advantage by 2,967.1% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,232 shares of the company's stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 8,931 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Advantage by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 237,848 shares of the company's stock worth $4,455,000 after acquiring an additional 42,150 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Advantage by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,811 shares of the company's stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 5,185 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of First Advantage by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 87,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 8,498 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Advantage by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,289,173 shares of the company's stock worth $18,164,000 after acquiring an additional 121,687 shares during the period. 94.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped 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, May 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of First Advantage from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Advantage has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.25.

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.