T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 122,610 Shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of FirstService Co. (NASDAQ:FSV - Free Report) TSE: FSV by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,285,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 122,610 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 2.84% of FirstService worth $232,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of FirstService during the fourth quarter worth $98,615,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstService by 486.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 469,141 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,308,000 after buying an additional 389,129 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstService in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,541,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in FirstService by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 656,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $118,767,000 after acquiring an additional 229,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of FirstService by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 457,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $83,138,000 after buying an additional 166,996 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities increased their target price on FirstService from $197.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on FirstService from $217.50 to $210.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of FirstService from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstService from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.00.

FirstService Stock Performance

FirstService stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 108,286. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $169.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.33. FirstService Co. has a 12-month low of $141.26 and a 12-month high of $197.84. The company has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.99 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.75.

FirstService (NASDAQ:FSV - Get Free Report) TSE: FSV last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. FirstService had a return on equity of 17.15% and a net margin of 2.58%. FirstService's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that FirstService Co. will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstService Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from FirstService's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. FirstService's payout ratio is currently 38.06%.

About FirstService

FirstService Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides residential property management and other essential property services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: FirstService Residential and FirstService Brands. The FirstService Residential segment offers services for private residential communities, such as condominiums, co-operatives, homeowner associations, master-planned communities, active adult and lifestyle communities, and various other residential developments.