Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Fiserv during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Price Performance

NYSE FI opened at $229.58 on Thursday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $215.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.07. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $237.99. The company has a market cap of $128.86 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback 60,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $278.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.83.

Fiserv Company 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.