Monarch Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,794 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 466 shares during the quarter. Fiserv makes up 1.7% of Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $6,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Fiserv by 27.6% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 54,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,108,000 after buying an additional 11,768 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Fiserv by 25.1% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Fiserv by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 32,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,832,000 after buying an additional 2,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fiserv by 173.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,758,000 after acquiring an additional 11,732 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $199.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $278.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Fiserv from $225.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total value of $4,468,394.81. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,320,644.31. This trade represents a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Doyle Simons sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total value of $8,078,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 76,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,074.60. This trade represents a 34.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 90,821 shares of company stock worth $18,581,095. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fiserv Stock Performance

NYSE FI opened at $208.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Fiserv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $136.93 and a fifty-two week high of $223.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $209.45 and a 200-day moving average of $186.76. The stock has a market cap of $118.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.94.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.