Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Stock Price

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Citigroup from $267.00 to $240.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 35.17% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $246.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.33.

Fiserv Price Performance

Fiserv stock opened at $177.55 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $216.08 and a 200-day moving average of $211.95. Fiserv 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.94, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.86 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. As a group, analysts predict that Fiserv will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Activity 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fiserv

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,406,452,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Fiserv by 21,681.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,821,905 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $843,991,000 after buying an additional 3,804,358 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $614,982,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 343.7% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,806,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $576,527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,174,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 65.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,437,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,554 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Company 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.