Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Fiserv (NYSE:FI)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by equities research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $255.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 22.26% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FI. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Fiserv from $220.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Fiserv from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fiserv from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $222.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Fiserv from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.88.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FI opened at $208.57 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $209.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.52. The company has a market cap of $118.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.11, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.93. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $131.95 and a twelve month high of $223.23.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 15.22%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. Fiserv’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Fiserv will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Doyle Simons sold 40,000 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total transaction of $8,078,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,386,074.60. This trade represents a 34.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total transaction of $4,468,394.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,320,644.31. This trade represents a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,821 shares of company stock valued at $18,581,095. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the third quarter worth $764,543,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427,664 shares during the period. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the third quarter valued at about $172,993,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Fiserv by 788.7% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 632,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,700,000 after buying an additional 561,377 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 1,238.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 603,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,488,000 after buying an additional 558,774 shares in the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.