Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI - Free Report) by 30.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,367 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,745 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Fiserv were worth $4,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FI. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fiserv by 1.7% during the third quarter. Waypoint Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,118 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its stake in Fiserv by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,216 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in Fiserv by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Fiserv by 7.6% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 832 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, West Bancorporation Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 3.8% in the third quarter. West Bancorporation Inc. now owns 1,648 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other news, Director Doyle Simons sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total value of $8,078,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,180 shares in the company, valued at $15,386,074.60. This trade represents a 34.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total value of $4,468,394.81. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 38,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,320,644.31. The trade was a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 90,821 shares of company stock valued at $18,581,095. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FI has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Fiserv from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Fiserv from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Fiserv from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.00.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FI traded up $2.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $208.67. The company had a trading volume of 2,579,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,432,215. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $136.93 and a twelve month high of $223.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $209.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.94.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.