Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Shares Acquired by Giverny Capital Inc.

Giverny Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 630,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,976 shares during the period. Fiserv comprises 4.7% of Giverny Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Giverny Capital Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $129,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,406,452,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at $614,982,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,437,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,116,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,554 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,568,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,376,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126,419 shares during the period. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $363,031,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total transaction of $10,599,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $246.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. KeyCorp raised their target price on Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.35.

Fiserv Price Performance

FI stock opened at $207.98 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $116.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.59, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.44. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.98 and a 12-month high of $238.59.

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