Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 1,076 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,076 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $13,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FI. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI stock opened at $223.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $125.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $238.59. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $217.59 and a 200-day moving average of $202.24.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FI has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fiserv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.83.

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.