Short Interest in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Grows By 31.1%

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,720,000 shares, an increase of 31.1% from the March 15th total of 5,890,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of FI opened at $151.20 on Monday. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $109.11 and a twelve month high of $159.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 1.24 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.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.04. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.07% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Fiserv will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $9,801,484.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,209,646. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fiserv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FI. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Fiserv in the third quarter valued at $5,705,241,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $5,885,279,000. Dodge & Cox acquired a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $4,631,675,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $2,329,623,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $960,592,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on FI. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $152.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $144.00 to $158.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.21.

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.