Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Stake Lifted by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $12,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fiserv by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,891,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,435,280,000 after buying an additional 218,833 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Fiserv by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,030,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,649,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,597 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth $1,406,452,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Fiserv by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,437,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,116,919,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,711,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $762,328,000 after purchasing an additional 164,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI stock opened at $198.77 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $238.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.66. The company has a market capitalization of $111.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FI shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $246.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $243.64.

Insider Activity

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.