Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Rating Increased to Overweight at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of Fiserv (NYSE:FI) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $255.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $220.00.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Fiserv from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Fiserv from $187.00 to $226.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $190.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $225.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock. Three 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.38.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of Fiserv stock opened at $201.76 on Wednesday. Fiserv has a 1 year low of $131.41 and a 1 year high of $223.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $206.77 and its 200 day moving average is $178.31. The stock has a market cap of $114.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other news, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.37, for a total transaction of $25,718,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,965,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $525,916,949.08. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 235,821 shares of company stock worth $44,299,745. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fiserv

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Fiserv by 17.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,696,341,000 after buying an additional 1,427,664 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,173,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,069,204,000 after acquiring an additional 64,332 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,612,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $687,489,000 after purchasing an additional 85,598 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at about $764,543,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Fiserv by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,960,012 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $441,173,000 after purchasing an additional 225,159 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.