Birch Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Birch Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Fiserv makes up approximately 2.3% of Birch Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $4,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 62,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,917,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 6,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Fiserv by 78.1% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,989 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 2,187 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,547 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,605,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of FI traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $204.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,153,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,624,240. The company has a market capitalization of $116.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.32, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.93. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $133.66 and a 12-month high of $223.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 15.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total transaction of $4,468,394.81. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,320,644.31. This trade represents a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Heidi Miller sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.13, for a total transaction of $6,033,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,684,555.55. This represents a 47.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 90,821 shares of company stock worth $18,581,095. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FI. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $187.00 to $226.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Fiserv from $183.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $199.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.88.

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.