Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 90,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,625 shares during the quarter. Fiserv accounts for 1.6% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $18,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens upped their price target on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $242.32.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of FI stock opened at $219.32 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.36. 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 one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $238.59. The firm has a market cap of $123.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

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.