Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $469,000 Stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,282 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv during the third quarter valued at $764,543,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,427,664 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Fiserv by 788.7% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 632,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,700,000 after purchasing an additional 561,377 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Fiserv by 1,238.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 603,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,488,000 after purchasing an additional 558,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. acquired a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $97,254,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI opened at $231.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $214.38 and a 200 day moving average of $199.36. The company has a market capitalization of $130.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.01, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.98 and a 12 month high of $237.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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 forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens raised their target price on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fiserv has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $239.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.