Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Takes Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,725,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FI. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,685,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $302,737,000 after acquiring an additional 48,413 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its holdings in Fiserv by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 1,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Fiserv by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total transaction of $10,599,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $237.00 target price on Fiserv in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Fiserv from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.00.

Fiserv Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $191.00 on Wednesday. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.25 and a 1 year high of $238.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $105.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.06. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Fiserv Company Profile

Fiserv, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides payments and financial services technology services in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Merchant Acceptance, Financial Technology, and Payments and Network segments.