Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fiserv (NYSE:FI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on FI. BTIG Research began coverage on Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a buy rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fiserv from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Fiserv from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup raised Fiserv to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Fiserv from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $174.88.

Fiserv Stock Up 0.6 %

Fiserv stock opened at $178.38 on Thursday. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $109.11 and a twelve month high of $179.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $168.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Fiserv had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 17.45%. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Fiserv will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fiserv news, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.37, for a total transaction of $25,718,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,965,084 shares in the company, valued at $525,916,949.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.37, for a total transaction of $25,718,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,965,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $525,916,949.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.21, for a total value of $3,177,486.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,764,211.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 211,890 shares of company stock worth $36,572,057 over the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fiserv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FI. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.