Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $214.29.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $190.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Compass Point assumed coverage on Fiserv in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $278.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Fiserv from $188.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.37, for a total value of $25,718,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total transaction of $4,468,394.81. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,320,644.31. The trade was a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 235,821 shares of company stock worth $44,299,745 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Clean Yield Group raised its holdings in Fiserv by 431.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 170 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in Fiserv by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the third quarter worth $44,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fiserv Price Performance

NYSE:FI opened at $220.96 on Friday. Fiserv has a 12-month low of $128.43 and a 12-month high of $223.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $200.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

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

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.