Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $164.33.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $171.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $163.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised shares of Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Fiserv in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FI opened at $153.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.91. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $109.11 and a twelve month high of $159.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $152.39 and its 200 day moving average is $137.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.57 billion. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.68% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fiserv will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $3,588,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,477,911.47. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,575 shares of company stock valued at $17,022,387. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Fiserv in the first quarter valued at about $433,000. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fiserv by 7.5% during the first quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the first quarter worth about $181,556,000. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Fiserv by 2.5% during the first quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 4,862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in Fiserv by 0.9% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 111,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

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.