California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 3,820 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 188,911 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,820 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $12,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in First American Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 44,007 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 3.0% during the third quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,910 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 117,044 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,612,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 0.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 55,462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 18,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE FAF opened at $53.20 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.31. First American Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $49.55 and a 12-month high of $65.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45 and a beta of 1.28.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.22). First American Financial had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 3.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. First American Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FAF. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First American Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.75.

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.