Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $222.00 to $232.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Fiserv traded as high as $216.34 and last traded at $216.09, with a volume of 722184 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $212.74.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on FI. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $190.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $188.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $178.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,965,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $525,916,949.08. This represents a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total value of $4,468,394.81. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,320,644.31. The trade was a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 235,821 shares of company stock worth $44,299,745. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fiserv

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Fiserv by 3,016.0% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,197 shares during the period. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in Fiserv by 23.6% in the third quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 15,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,696,000 after purchasing an additional 2,869 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Fiserv by 66.3% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 7,008 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 2,794 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the third quarter valued at $1,543,000. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the second quarter valued at $2,981,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $122.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.38, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.59.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 15.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.