Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI - Free Report) by 46.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,134 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 7,912 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Fiserv were worth $1,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Fiserv during the third quarter worth $40,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv during the third quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FI shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Fiserv from $190.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.83.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.8 %

Fiserv stock traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $232.47. The stock had a trading volume of 4,404,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,787,555. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.98 and a 12 month high of $237.99. The company has a market capitalization of $132.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.13, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $213.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.