Wells Fargo & Company MN Trims Stock Holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Wells Fargo & Company MN cut its holdings in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 49.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,071 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 88,347 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.09% of First American Financial worth $5,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FAF. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in First American Financial by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,625,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $663,426,000 after purchasing an additional 107,925 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,573,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $160,707,000 after buying an additional 78,022 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,735,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $108,368,000 after buying an additional 286,711 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,530,977 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,594,000 after buying an additional 37,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in First American Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,780,000. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens increased their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock 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 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

First American Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE FAF opened at $59.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.39 and a beta of 1.23. First American Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $51.60 and a 52-week high of $70.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.88.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 172.80%.

Insider Activity

In other First American Financial news, 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 transaction of $815,006.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.