Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires 483,411 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 30,479.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 484,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 483,411 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $99,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FI. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Fiserv by 18.5% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 37.7% during the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 2,995 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 2.1% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 3.5% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the third quarter worth approximately $296,000. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of Fiserv in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $278.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.83.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total transaction of $10,599,750.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $231.85 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $216.09 and its 200-day moving average is $200.29. The stock has a market cap of $130.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month 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.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

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

About Fiserv

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.