Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 975 Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 975 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Fiserv in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $278.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.83.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction 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 owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Up 1.8 %

Fiserv stock opened at $235.67 on Friday. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.98 and a 12 month high of $237.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $200.81. 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 firm has a market cap of $132.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.72, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.