Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.83.

Fiserv Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:FI opened at $229.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $128.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $237.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. As a group, analysts expect that Fiserv will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total transaction of $10,599,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fiserv

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Fiserv by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,891,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,435,280,000 after purchasing an additional 218,833 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Fiserv by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,568,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,376,482,000 after buying an additional 2,126,419 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Fiserv by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,030,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,649,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,597 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fiserv by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,936,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,424,907,000 after acquiring an additional 340,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,406,452,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.