ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New Investment in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 273,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,266,000. Fiserv makes up approximately 1.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Fiserv during the second quarter worth $200,000. West Oak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Fiserv during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FI shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Fiserv in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Fiserv from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Fiserv in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.21.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $9,801,484.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,209,646. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,575 shares of company stock valued at $17,022,387. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Fiserv stock traded up $1.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $148.63. The stock had a trading volume of 2,515,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,512,931. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $87.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $151.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.35. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.11 and a 52 week high of $159.99.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.04. Fiserv had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.