Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,544,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 165,015 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Fiserv worth $10,177,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Fiserv by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,341,000 after buying an additional 1,427,664 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at $764,543,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Fiserv by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,711,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $762,328,000 after buying an additional 164,949 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fiserv by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,620,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $743,782,000 after buying an additional 90,475 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at $614,982,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on FI. StockNews.com lowered Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total value of $10,599,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of FI stock opened at $218.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $220.46 and a 200 day moving average of $206.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $122.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $238.59.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.