Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Takes Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FI. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $386,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $11,964,000. Keeler Thomas Management LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $3,422,000. North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $42,396,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $584,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on FI. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $144.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 target price on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.79.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $9,801,484.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,209,646. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,575 shares of company stock valued at $17,022,387. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of FI traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $149.26. 1,564,818 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,498,887. The stock has a market cap of $87.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.69. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.11 and a 12 month high of $159.99.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

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.