Fmr LLC Acquires 2,126,419 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Fmr LLC raised its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,568,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,126,419 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $2,376,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Fiserv by 19.6% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 40,972 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,361,000 after acquiring an additional 6,722 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Fiserv by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 279,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,207,000 after acquiring an additional 26,459 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 80.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 50,386 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,052,000 after purchasing an additional 22,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens increased their price target on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Sunday, March 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $243.64.

Fiserv Trading Down 8.4 %

FI opened at $198.77 on Friday. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $238.59. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $222.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.42. The company has a market capitalization of $111.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.88, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fiserv 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.