Advisors Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FI. Seeds Investor LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Fiserv by 511.9% in the fourth quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,616,000 after buying an additional 51,380 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,606,000. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $404,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Fiserv by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 53,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,066,000 after buying an additional 13,474 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fiserv presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.35.

Fiserv Trading Up 2.1 %

Fiserv stock opened at $212.44 on Tuesday. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.98 and a 1 year high of $238.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $220.94 and its 200-day moving average is $210.90. 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 company has a market cap of $118.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.