Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $22,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FI. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Fiserv during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fiserv by 46.4% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,867 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 1,542 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Fiserv by 1.5% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,167,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Convergence Financial LLC boosted its stake in Fiserv by 61.1% during the third quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 7,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,423,000 after buying an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Fiserv by 11.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:FI opened at $232.47 on Friday. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $237.99. 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 company has a market capitalization of $132.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $198.56.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. As a group, analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FI. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $190.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fiserv currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $239.83.

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.