Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.44 Million Stock Holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Fiserv accounts for about 1.6% of Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $2,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Fiserv by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,891,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,435,280,000 after buying an additional 218,833 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,030,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,649,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,597 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,406,452,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Fiserv by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,437,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,116,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Fiserv by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,711,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $762,328,000 after purchasing an additional 164,949 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on FI shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $246.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $243.64.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI stock opened at $198.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.85 and a 200-day moving average of $209.42. The company has a market cap of $111.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share 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, equities analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.