Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Shares Sold by FIL Ltd

FIL Ltd decreased its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 57.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 264,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 360,699 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $54,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,891,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,435,280,000 after acquiring an additional 218,833 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,568,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,376,482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,419 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,030,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,649,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,597 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,406,452,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,437,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other Fiserv 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Performance

FI stock opened at $210.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $117.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.98 and a 12-month high of $238.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.03.

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

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Fiserv in a report on Sunday, March 23rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.35.

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.