Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Boosts Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 266,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,448 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $54,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,324,000. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth approximately $472,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Fiserv by 568.2% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 294 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Breed s Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $268.00 price target (up previously from $267.00) on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler set a $218.00 target price on Fiserv in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Fiserv from $254.00 to $232.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $237.00 target price on Fiserv in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fiserv currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.20.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:FI opened at $161.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $89.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.97. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.25 and a 52 week high of $238.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.28.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $4.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.86 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.