Meeder Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 635.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,406,452,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $614,982,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $134,710,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Fiserv by 788.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 632,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,700,000 after buying an additional 561,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 30,479.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 484,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,628,000 after buying an additional 483,411 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fiserv Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of FI stock opened at $221.19 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $238.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $222.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $208.51. The company has a market capitalization of $124.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.04, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Fiserv in a research note on Sunday, March 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.32.

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.