Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 1,530 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,069 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Fiserv were worth $3,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fiserv by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 11,104 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,281,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Fiserv by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its position in Fiserv by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,160 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Fiserv by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,126 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 864 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on FI. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fiserv from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fiserv currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.83.

Fiserv Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:FI traded down $1.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $218.04. The company had a trading volume of 4,456,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,995,866. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.12. Fiserv, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $238.59. The stock has a market cap of $122.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. 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 (NYSE:FI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback 60,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of Fiserv 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This trade represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fiserv 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.