Summit Global Investments Raises Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Summit Global Investments increased its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 107.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,817 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Fiserv were worth $579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,813,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 5,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Fiserv by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 70,917 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,568,000 after buying an additional 4,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Settian Capital LP purchased a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $1,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of Fiserv stock opened at $218.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $122.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $220.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.46. Fiserv, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $238.59.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FI. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.83.

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.