Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Short Interest Down 6.1% in April

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,250,000 shares, a decrease of 6.1% from the March 31st total of 7,720,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on FI shares. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Fiserv from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Fiserv from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.33.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI opened at $148.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Fiserv has a 1 year low of $109.11 and a 1 year high of $159.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $152.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.72.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.57 billion. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.68% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fiserv will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 23,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.79, for a total transaction of $3,632,182.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,847,871.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,575 shares of company stock worth $17,022,387. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fiserv

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fiserv

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.