Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Purchases New Shares in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,590 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,506,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,705,241,000 after purchasing an additional 789,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Fiserv by 4.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,700,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,904,889,000 after buying an additional 1,022,653 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fiserv by 1.2% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,421,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,400,906,000 after acquiring an additional 149,811 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Fiserv by 131.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,980,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,008,744,000 after acquiring an additional 5,666,145 shares during the period. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP now owns 7,419,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $936,007,000 after purchasing an additional 465,468 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE FI traded down $0.32 during trading on Thursday, hitting $159.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,082,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,567,003. Fiserv, Inc. has a one year low of $109.11 and a one year high of $159.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $147.33 and its 200-day moving average is $132.01. The company has a market cap of $93.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.91.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.04. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The company had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. Fiserv’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $3,588,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,477,911.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 18.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FI shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Fiserv from $152.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Fiserv from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.83.

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.