FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS Shares Purchased by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 19.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 45,148 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,475 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $8,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of FirstCash by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,361,000 after acquiring an additional 312,132 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in FirstCash by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,043,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,367,000 after acquiring an additional 31,550 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,009,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,850,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in FirstCash by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 794,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,273,000 after acquiring an additional 17,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in FirstCash by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,503,000 after acquiring an additional 251,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCFS. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FirstCash news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $679,230.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,337,042.46. The trade was a 8.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Raul Ramos sold 6,835 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total transaction of $1,539,447.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,400 shares in the company, valued at $4,594,692. This represents a 25.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,000 shares of company stock worth $5,917,004. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Trading Up 2.6%

FCFS opened at $214.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 4.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.82 and a twelve month high of $235.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $216.65 and a 200-day moving average of $203.37.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.11. FirstCash had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 9.42%.The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. FirstCash’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is currently 19.18%.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash, Inc (NASDAQ: FCFS) is a leading integrated operator of pawn stores and provider of short-term consumer loan services in the United States and Mexico. Through its retail pawn outlets, FirstCash offers collateral-based loans secured by personal property, enabling customers to access liquidity without a credit history or traditional bank account. The company also purchases, trades and sells a broad range of secondhand merchandise, including electronics, jewelry and power tools, through its network of conveniently located stores.

In addition to its pawn-broking activities, FirstCash provides unsecured consumer loans designed to meet urgent cash needs.