Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Makes New Investment in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 46,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,183,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Fiserv by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 10,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Fiserv by 2.3% during the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 4,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 75.8% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Fiserv by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FI shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Fiserv from $158.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on Fiserv from $176.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.33.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI stock traded up $1.37 during trading on Monday, reaching $150.59. 2,132,449 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,567,719. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.92. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.11 and a twelve month high of $159.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $152.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.66.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.57 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 16.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $9,801,484.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,209,646. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 111,575 shares of company stock worth $17,022,387 in the last ninety days. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.