Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Fiserv (NYSE:FI - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has $145.00 price target on the business services provider's stock.
A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on FI. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.35.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on FI
Fiserv Price Performance
FI traded up $3.16 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $211.30. 797,525 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,710,623. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.67. Fiserv has a 12-month low of $145.98 and a 12-month high of $238.59. The company has a market cap of $118.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.20, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91.
Fiserv (NYSE:FI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fiserv will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.
Fiserv declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback 60,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company's stock.
About Fiserv
(
Get Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider Fiserv, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Fiserv wasn't on the list.
While Fiserv currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of seven stocks and why their long-term outlooks are very promising.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
