Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $222.00 to $232.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Fiserv traded as high as $216.34 and last traded at $216.09, with a volume of 722184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.74.

FI has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays upped their target price on Fiserv from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Fiserv from $190.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Fiserv from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. B. Riley increased their price target on Fiserv from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fiserv from $183.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Heidi Miller sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.13, for a total transaction of $6,033,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,684,555.55. This trade represents a 47.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.37, for a total value of $25,718,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,965,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $525,916,949.08. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 235,821 shares of company stock worth $44,299,745 in the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 1.7% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Optas LLC increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 1.7% during the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,216 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fiserv by 42.5% in the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Fiserv by 7.6% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 832 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Bancorporation Inc. raised its holdings in Fiserv by 3.8% in the third quarter. West Bancorporation Inc. now owns 1,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fiserv Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $123.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 15.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv Company 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.