Axiom Investors LLC DE Boosts Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 343.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 107,624 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,359 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $17,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 9.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 389,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,866,000 after purchasing an additional 34,364 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 237.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 62,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,467,000 after purchasing an additional 43,653 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 4.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 67.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 20,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 8,402 shares during the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on FCFS shares. Zacks Research raised shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock 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 research note on Sunday, May 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $198.00.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In related news, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.40, for a total value of $326,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,427,013.60. This trade represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total transaction of $2,284,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 140,846 shares in the company, valued at $32,181,902.54. This represents a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 27,500 shares of company stock worth $6,243,104 in the last three months. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FirstCash Trading Up 2.5%

FCFS stock opened at $229.35 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.92. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 4.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.21 and a 52-week high of $235.97. The firm has a market cap of $10.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 18.68%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.05%.

About FirstCash

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.