Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 440 Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 440 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the third quarter worth approximately $5,705,241,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth $960,592,000. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $900,674,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at about $874,377,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth about $450,830,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on FI shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $158.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Fiserv from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Fiserv from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. BNP Paribas raised Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $3,588,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at $24,477,911.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,575 shares of company stock worth $17,022,387. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FI traded down $1.58 on Monday, hitting $154.31. 1,940,748 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,558,118. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $152.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Fiserv, Inc. has a one year low of $109.11 and a one year high of $159.99.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.68% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $4.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

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.