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

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, twenty-one have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $224.20.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada set a $237.00 price target on shares of Fiserv in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $200.00 price target on shares of Fiserv in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth about $257,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fiserv by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 929,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $190,875,000 after purchasing an additional 7,183 shares in the last quarter. USAdvisors Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth about $322,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its position in shares of Fiserv by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 26,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE FI opened at $159.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $197.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Fiserv has a fifty-two week low of $146.25 and a fifty-two week high of $238.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.97.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released 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. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Fiserv will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.