Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) Stock Price Up 2.4% – Should You Buy?

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV)’s stock price traded up 2.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $68.51 and last traded at $68.16. 22,375,148 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 282% from the average session volume of 5,857,395 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on FISV. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Fiserv from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $79.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Fiserv to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Fiserv from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Fiserv and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.08.

Fiserv Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $37.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $84.45 and its 200-day moving average is $126.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter. Fiserv had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 17.05%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Paul M. Todd purchased 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $62.41 per share, for a total transaction of $1,060,970.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 24,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,526,111.73. This trade represents a 228.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lance M. Fritz acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $65.18 per share, with a total value of $651,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 13,086 shares in the company, valued at $852,945.48. This trade represents a 324.04% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders purchased 34,900 shares of company stock valued at $2,211,971 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FISV. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Fiserv by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Fiserv by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Fiserv by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 77,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,128,000 after purchasing an additional 3,790 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,463 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Fiserv by 93.0% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after buying an additional 6,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

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.