Legal & General Group Plc Sells 904,479 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 20.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,489,260 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 904,479 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $716,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $1,406,452,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth about $614,982,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,437,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,919,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,554 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,568,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,376,482,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Fiserv by 16.2% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,121,597 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price target on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $246.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.64.

Fiserv Stock Down 8.4 %

Shares of NYSE:FI opened at $198.77 on Monday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $222.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.66. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.98 and a 12-month high of $238.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.