Legal & General Group Plc Trims Position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,413 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 11,426 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.21% of First American Financial worth $13,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 305,933 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,102,000 after acquiring an additional 56,493 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of First American Financial by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,441 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in First American Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $287,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,046,743 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $377,559,000 after buying an additional 1,042,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMG Holdings L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,370,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FAF. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First American Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

First American Financial Trading Down 1.8 %

FAF stock traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.11. The stock had a trading volume of 24,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 652,742. First American Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $51.60 and a 52 week high of $70.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.52 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.87.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. As a group, equities analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. First American Financial's payout ratio is 172.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First American Financial

In related news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total transaction of $7,121,355.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at $31,454,906.40. The trade was a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $815,006.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565 over the last three months. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First American Financial Profile

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.