SFE Investment Counsel Acquires New Shares in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

SFE Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 33,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in Fiserv by 75.8% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 71.9% during the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 306 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $9,801,484.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,209,646. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,575 shares of company stock valued at $17,022,387. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FI. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $144.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Fiserv from $152.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.21.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE FI traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $146.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,048,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,499,057. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $86.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.91. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.11 and a 12-month high of $159.99.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current 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.