Wealth Alliance Takes Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Wealth Alliance bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,950 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FI. AMI Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 33.6% during the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,839,000 after purchasing an additional 7,047 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Fiserv by 10.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Fiserv by 158.2% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 963 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the first quarter worth about $1,095,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the first quarter worth about $357,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $147.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Fiserv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.11 and a fifty-two week high of $159.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.03.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.04. Fiserv had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 23,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.79, for a total value of $3,632,182.91. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,847,871.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 111,575 shares of company stock worth $17,022,387 over the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fiserv in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $144.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.21.

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.