Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $7.93 Million in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 127,041 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,932,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of First American Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in First American Financial by 66.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in First American Financial by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in First American Financial by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in First American Financial by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,340 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in First American Financial by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. The trade was a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total transaction of $200,202.93. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This represents a 11.37 % 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 valued at $8,136,565 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First American Financial Stock Performance

First American Financial stock traded up $0.23 on Monday, reaching $61.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 602,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 659,837. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.94 and a beta of 1.23. The business's fifty day moving average price is $62.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.70. First American Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $51.85 and a twelve month high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on FAF shares. Stephens boosted their target price on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First American Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on First American Financial from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.00.

First American Financial Company 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.