Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 36,300 Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 36,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,822,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Fiserv by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,700,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,904,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,653 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Fiserv by 1.2% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 149,811 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 5,666,145 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Fiserv by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,606,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $833,435,000 after purchasing an additional 817,660 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 18.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fiserv Stock Performance

FI stock traded down $2.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $151.20. 2,118,392 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,247,025. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.11 and a 52 week high of $159.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $151.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a PE ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on FI. BNP Paribas raised shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.21.

About Fiserv

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.