Covey Capital Advisors LLC Sells 594 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Covey Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 594 shares during the quarter. Fiserv comprises approximately 2.8% of Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Covey Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $2,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 17.8% in 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 last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the third quarter worth $764,543,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Fiserv by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,685,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $302,737,000 after purchasing an additional 48,413 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Fiserv by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,317,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $236,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. raised its stake in Fiserv by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 1,278,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $262,545,000 after purchasing an additional 174,505 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.7 %

FI opened at $234.63 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $238.00. The firm has a market cap of $133.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.53, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.94.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on FI. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $183.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.