Aspire Growth Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 5,197 Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Aspire Growth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,068,000. Fiserv comprises about 1.0% of Aspire Growth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in Fiserv by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 4,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Visualize Group LP acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth about $15,612,000. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $562,000. Cypress Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,215,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 183,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,755,000 after buying an additional 21,861 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on FI shares. 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. Piper Sandler set a $218.00 target price on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $254.00 to $232.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $268.00 target price (up from $267.00) on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fiserv has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.00.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FI opened at $184.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $211.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.52. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $146.25 and a 52-week high of $238.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.06. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback 60,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.