Verus Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Verus Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FI. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the third quarter valued at about $764,543,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Fiserv by 17.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,341,000 after buying an additional 1,427,664 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Fiserv by 788.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 558,774 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 30,479.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 484,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,628,000 after purchasing an additional 483,411 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FI. Citigroup increased their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $10,599,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of FI opened at $235.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.98 and a 12 month high of $237.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $216.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.08. The firm has a market cap of $132.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released 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 return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. Analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.