AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 27,625 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 444,234 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,625 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.43% of First American Financial worth $27,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in First American Financial by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,340 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in First American Financial by 66.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 84,344 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of First American Financial from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of First American Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First American Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.00.

Insider Activity at First American Financial

In related news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total value of $7,121,355.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at $31,454,906.40. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of First American Financial 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 approximately $12,586,795.36. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

First American Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE FAF traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $59.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 171,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 655,927. First American Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $51.85 and a twelve month high of $70.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.70 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.29 and a 200 day moving average of $63.45.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.19. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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.