Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $222.00 to $232.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Fiserv traded as high as $216.34 and last traded at $216.09, with a volume of 722184 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $212.74.

FI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho lifted 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. BTIG Research started coverage on Fiserv in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Fiserv from $188.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, William Blair raised Fiserv to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fiserv news, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total value of $4,468,394.81. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Doyle Simons sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total value of $8,078,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 76,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,386,074.60. The trade was a 34.43 % 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 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Fiserv by 5.9% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fiserv during the first quarter valued at $224,000. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Fiserv during the first quarter valued at $318,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Fiserv by 38.8% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fiserv by 7.5% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.59. The firm has a market cap of $122.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.