Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI - Free Report) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 433,440 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 43,807 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Fiserv worth $89,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $1,406,452,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at about $614,982,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Fiserv by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,437,246 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,116,919,000 after buying an additional 2,153,554 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Fiserv by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,030,889 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,649,705,000 after buying an additional 1,121,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $134,710,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the 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 owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Remove Ads

Fiserv Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of FI traded up $3.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $207.57. 813,436 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,704,328. The company has a market capitalization of $115.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $238.59. The company's 50 day moving average is $221.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.22.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FI. Barclays upped their price objective on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Fiserv from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $246.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Fiserv from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.35.

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.