Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 262 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,757 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the third quarter valued at $764,543,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Fiserv by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,696,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,664 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 788.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 632,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,700,000 after buying an additional 561,377 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Fiserv by 1,238.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 603,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,488,000 after acquiring an additional 558,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth $97,254,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of FI opened at $227.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $129.62 billion, a PE ratio of 42.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $209.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.77. Fiserv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.47 and a fifty-two week high of $233.26.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. Analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Fiserv from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.83.

Fiserv 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.