Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Trims Stock Holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 505,481 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 17,191 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.49% of First American Financial worth $31,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FAF. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 74.2% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 15,589 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $368,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,237,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First American Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $345,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in First American Financial by 11.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,930 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upped their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

First American Financial Stock Down 1.2 %

FAF opened at $65.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 52.54 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.40. First American Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $51.60 and a 52 week high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is 172.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First American Financial

In other news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total transaction of $200,202.93. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This represents a 11.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total transaction of $7,121,355.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 494,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. The trade was a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565 over the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.