John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Invests $5.91 Million in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 44,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,908,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,506,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,705,241,000 after purchasing an additional 789,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Fiserv by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,700,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,904,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,653 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Fiserv by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,421,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,400,906,000 after acquiring an additional 149,811 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Fiserv by 131.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,980,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,008,744,000 after acquiring an additional 5,666,145 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fiserv by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,606,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $833,435,000 after buying an additional 817,660 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $3,588,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,477,911.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 111,575 shares of company stock worth $17,022,387 in the last 90 days. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fiserv Price Performance

FI stock traded up $1.71 on Friday, hitting $148.62. 2,478,183 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,503,035. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $87.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.91. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.11 and a 1-year high of $159.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.72 and a 200-day moving average of $136.10.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.04. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The company had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Fiserv in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $152.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.21.

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.