Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

FI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Fiserv from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Fiserv from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Fiserv from $178.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. William Blair raised Fiserv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on Fiserv from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Five equities research 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.88.

Fiserv Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of FI traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $177.40. 2,556,496 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,465,277. Fiserv has a 12-month low of $109.11 and a 12-month high of $179.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $102.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.81 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 17.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fiserv will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.86, for a total transaction of $3,716,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,350,427.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Fiserv news, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.21, for a total transaction of $3,177,486.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,764,211.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.86, for a total transaction of $3,716,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,350,427.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 211,890 shares of company stock valued at $36,572,057. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the first quarter worth $2,359,000. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new position in Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth about $646,368,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Fiserv by 3,016.0% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 3,197 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth about $39,137,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fiserv Company Profile

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.