FineMark National Bank & Trust Grows Stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

FineMark National Bank & Trust increased its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 84,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $17,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FI. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Campbell Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fiserv 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fiserv Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of FI opened at $221.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.98 and a 1 year high of $238.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.81.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign 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.