FJ Capital Management LLC Invests $339,000 in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

FJ Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth about $1,406,452,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $614,982,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Fiserv by 343.7% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,806,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $576,527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,174,025 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position 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 valued at $1,116,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Fiserv by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,568,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,376,482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,419 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FI. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Stephens raised their price objective on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $265.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on Fiserv from $265.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Fiserv in a research note on Sunday, March 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.00.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $181.38 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.15. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.25 and a 52 week high of $238.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $100.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.97.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.86 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. Fiserv’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.