North Star Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in First Advantage Co. $FA

North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 194,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,503,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FA. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Advantage in the 2nd quarter worth about $217,748,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of First Advantage by 724.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,256,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,311,000 after purchasing an additional 4,618,946 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in First Advantage in the 2nd quarter worth about $63,214,000. Palisade Capital Management LP bought a new position in First Advantage in the 2nd quarter worth about $14,533,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in First Advantage by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,098,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,204,000 after purchasing an additional 780,200 shares during the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Lindsey Clark sold 4,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.69, for a total value of $77,210.49. Following the sale, the director owned 56,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $891,882.36. The trade was a 7.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on First Advantage from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Advantage from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded First Advantage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $18.00 target price on First Advantage in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on First Advantage from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.33.

First Advantage Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of FA opened at $20.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 697.67 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.45. First Advantage Co. has a 1 year low of $8.82 and a 1 year high of $25.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.85 and a quick ratio of 3.85.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. First Advantage has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.23-1.290 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Advantage Co. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Advantage Company Profile

First Advantage is a global provider of background screening, identity verification and workforce risk management solutions. The company delivers a comprehensive suite of services that help employers verify candidate credentials, manage regulatory compliance and mitigate risk throughout the employee lifecycle. Its platform is built to integrate with leading human capital management and applicant tracking systems, enabling a seamless and scalable experience for organizations of all sizes.

The company’s core offerings include pre-employment and continuous background screening, digital identity verification, drug and health testing, and ongoing employee monitoring.