Advisory Alpha LLC Grows Holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 29.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,696,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,664 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Fiserv by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,612,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $687,489,000 after purchasing an additional 85,598 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at $764,543,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,685,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $302,737,000 after purchasing an additional 48,413 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,317,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,739,000 after buying an additional 4,218 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Fiserv in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Fiserv from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Fiserv from $222.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Fiserv from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fiserv presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total transaction of $4,468,394.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,320,644.31. The trade was a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Heidi Miller sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.13, for a total value of $6,033,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,684,555.55. This represents a 47.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $209.48 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.13. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.13 and a twelve month high of $223.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.94. 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 data 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 company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. Fiserv’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv 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.