Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $48.20 Million Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 233,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,706 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Fiserv were worth $48,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FI. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Fiserv by 7.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,328 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Fiserv by 72,800.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the third quarter valued at about $5,398,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fiserv by 9.1% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 145,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,179,000 after buying an additional 12,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Fiserv by 10.5% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on FI. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fiserv Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of FI stock opened at $220.87 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $123.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.98, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06. Fiserv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $238.59.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its 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 return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. Research analysts forecast 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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership 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.