Boston Financial Mangement LLC Boosts Stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC raised its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total value 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 $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of FI opened at $234.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $133.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.94. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $238.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.74.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. As a group, analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually 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.