Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) Stock Rated Underperform in New Coverage at Bank of America

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) in a research report issued on Thursday. The firm set an “underperform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 2.43% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $59.00 price target on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Fiserv from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Fiserv in a report on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Fiserv from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fiserv has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.47.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FISV traded up $0.79 during trading on Thursday, reaching $46.86. The company had a trading volume of 482,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,583,164. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.68 and its 200 day moving average is $52.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.80. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $43.87 and a twelve month high of $128.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.91 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $4.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. Fiserv had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The company’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fiserv will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fiserv news, Director Lance Fritz purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $51.95 per share, with a total value of $519,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,413,403.65. This represents a 58.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fiserv

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Fiserv by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 59,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,672,000 after buying an additional 14,464 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the 3rd quarter valued at about $719,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in shares of Fiserv by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 12,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fiserv by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Finally, Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 16.2% during the third quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 84,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,821,000 after buying an additional 11,771 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fiserv

Fiserv, Inc is a global financial technology company that provides payments and financial services technology to banks, credit unions, merchants and other businesses. Its offerings support electronic payments, account processing, digital banking, merchant acquiring, fraud prevention and related financial services operations.

The company’s products and platforms include Clover, a point-of-sale and business management system for small and midsize businesses; Carat, which provides enterprise commerce and payment solutions; and services that help financial institutions manage accounts, digital channels, card programs, payments and data.