Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 6,846,716 Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,846,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,406,452,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FI. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fiserv by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 36,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,456,000 after acquiring an additional 8,711 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Fiserv by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 907,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $189,339,000 after purchasing an additional 59,434 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new position in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,089,000. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth about $616,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of Fiserv 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI stock opened at $221.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.14, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. Fiserv, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $238.59. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06.

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

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback 60,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on FI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stephens upped their price objective on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.32.

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.