Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Position Trimmed by Staley Capital Advisers Inc.

Staley Capital Advisers Inc. cut its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 434,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 12,495 shares during the quarter. Fiserv accounts for about 4.0% of Staley Capital Advisers Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Staley Capital Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $89,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 insiders.

Fiserv Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $214.76 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $218.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $238.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.84, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

Fiserv declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.