Sheets Smith Investment Management Acquires Shares of 6,970 Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Sheets Smith Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 6,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FI. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $764,543,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $614,982,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Fiserv by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,664 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $134,710,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in Fiserv by 788.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 632,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $109,700,000 after acquiring an additional 561,377 shares in the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FI. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.83.

Fiserv Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:FI opened at $218.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization 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, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $238.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $220.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.46.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total value of $10,599,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.