Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,892 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 236,082 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,892 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of First American Financial worth $14,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Bar Harbor Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of First American Financial by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 96,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,033,000 after purchasing an additional 29,324 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,489 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $1,476,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,700,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $112,306,000 after purchasing an additional 12,668 shares during the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens boosted 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 boosted their price objective on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First American Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total value of $7,121,355.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $815,006.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

First American Financial stock opened at $64.63 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.17. The stock has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.70 and a beta of 1.33. First American Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $51.60 and a 12 month high of $70.92.

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, analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 172.80%.

About First American Financial

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.