Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Shares Bought by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 740 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Fiserv by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 123,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,339,000 after acquiring an additional 6,072 shares during the period. Chiron Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Fiserv in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,709,000. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Fiserv by 170.4% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 6,839 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 4,310 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,254,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 12.0% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 140,460 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,234,000 after buying an additional 15,103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $10,599,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FI. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Fiserv in a report on Sunday, March 23rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $242.32.

Fiserv Price Performance

FI stock opened at $216.15 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $121.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.10, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.17. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $238.59.

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

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback 60,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.