Advisors Asset Management Inc. Purchases 3,919 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,919 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $12,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Fiserv by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,696,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,664 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv in the 3rd quarter valued at $764,543,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position 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 worth $762,328,000 after buying an additional 164,949 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $743,782,000 after buying an additional 90,475 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth $614,982,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on FI shares. Compass Point assumed coverage on Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $278.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.83.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI stock opened at $218.05 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $219.21 and a 200 day moving average of $205.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.98 and a 1 year high of $238.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total value of $10,599,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by 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.