Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.32.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Fiserv from $156.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. William Blair raised shares of Fiserv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Fiserv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.47, for a total transaction of $3,563,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at $24,304,390.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.47, for a total transaction of $3,563,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,304,390.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Gibbons sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.76, for a total value of $416,528.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,213,329.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,690 shares of company stock valued at $14,833,215. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Fiserv by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 44,720,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,147,305,000 after acquiring an additional 417,459 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Fiserv by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,840,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,011,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,078 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $960,592,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at $927,298,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth $900,674,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fiserv Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of FI stock opened at $171.84 on Thursday. Fiserv has a fifty-two week low of $109.11 and a fifty-two week high of $172.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $157.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Fiserv had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 17.45%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fiserv will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.