Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $158.21.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FI shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Fiserv from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer upgraded Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Fiserv in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Fiserv from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 8th.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of FI opened at $146.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.91. Fiserv has a 1 year low of $109.11 and a 1 year high of $159.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $24,477,911.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,575 shares of company stock worth $17,022,387. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FI. Hollencrest Capital Management grew its stake in Fiserv by 75.8% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.