Ethic Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Ethic Inc. lifted its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,325 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $20,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its holdings in Fiserv by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 29,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $339,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in Fiserv by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 344,602 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Fiserv by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,076,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $426,510,000 after purchasing an additional 78,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,855 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $545,155,000 after buying an additional 378,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $268.00 price objective (up from $267.00) on shares of Fiserv in a report on Friday, April 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Fiserv from $254.00 to $232.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $267.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.00.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $181.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.97. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.25 and a 52 week high of $238.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

About Fiserv

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.