Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Makes New Investment in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 45,955 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,440,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 17.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,696,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,664 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the third quarter valued at approximately $764,543,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Fiserv by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,711,072 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $762,328,000 after buying an additional 164,949 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Fiserv by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,620,785 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $743,782,000 after purchasing an additional 90,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $614,982,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FI. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fiserv has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.83.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Fiserv Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of FI traded down $3.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $218.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,537,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,522,983. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $220.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.01. Fiserv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $238.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $122.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback 60,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.