Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 255,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,017 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $52,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FI. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the 3rd quarter valued at about $764,543,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at about $614,982,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,664 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at about $134,710,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in Fiserv by 788.7% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 632,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,700,000 after purchasing an additional 561,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI stock opened at $221.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $124.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.15, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day moving average is $220.11 and its 200 day moving average is $205.70. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $238.59.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total value of $10,599,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on FI shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.83.

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.