JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 1,956,226 Shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its holdings in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) by 30.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,434,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,956,226 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 2.57% of First Advantage worth $88,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FA. FMR LLC raised its position in First Advantage by 50.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,600,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,716 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in First Advantage by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,131,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,314,000 after buying an additional 254,219 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Advantage by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,294,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,692,000 after buying an additional 9,718 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in First Advantage by 6.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,253,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,874,000 after buying an additional 72,400 shares during the period. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC increased its position in First Advantage by 2.1% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,183,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,484,000 after acquiring an additional 24,217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

First Advantage Price Performance

FA opened at $18.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 614.33 and a beta of 1.17. First Advantage Co. has a 12-month low of $14.01 and a 12-month high of $20.79.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The business had revenue of $199.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Advantage Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FA. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.29.

About First Advantage

First Advantage Corporation provides employment background screening, identity, and verification solutions worldwide. It offers pre-onboarding products and solutions, such as criminal background checks, drug/health screening, extended workforce screening, FBI channeling, identity checks and biometric fraud mitigation tools, education/work history verification, driver records and compliance, healthcare credentials, executive screening, and other screening products.