Wealth Alliance Raises Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Wealth Alliance grew its position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,988 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FI. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fiserv by 3.7% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Courier Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv during the third quarter valued at about $238,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Fiserv in the third quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Fiserv by 46.4% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,867 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on FI shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fiserv currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $239.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of FI opened at $232.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.26 billion, a PE ratio of 43.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.94. 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 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $237.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $213.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.28.

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

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

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.