Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $222.51 and last traded at $222.51, with a volume of 921 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $221.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FI has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Fiserv from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Fiserv from $190.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Fiserv in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.29.

Fiserv Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $125.62 billion, a PE ratio of 42.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.00.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 38,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,320,644.31. This represents a 34.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.37, for a total transaction of $25,718,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,965,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $525,916,949.08. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 235,821 shares of company stock worth $44,299,745 over the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fiserv

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FI. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the first quarter worth $25,000. Clean Yield Group grew its stake in Fiserv by 431.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 170 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 42.5% in the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

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.