Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Acquires 235 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Fiserv during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FI shares. Compass Point started coverage on Fiserv in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $278.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total value of $10,599,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $218.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $218.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.12. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $238.59.

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

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.