Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Stake Boosted by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 146.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,783 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $4,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in Fiserv by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 1,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Fiserv by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 103.9% during the fourth quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 14,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,071,000 after buying an additional 7,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at $12,843,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Heidi Miller sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.13, for a total value of $6,033,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,684,555.55. This represents a 47.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total transaction of $4,468,394.81. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,320,644.31. The trade was a 34.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,821 shares of company stock valued at $18,581,095 over the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fiserv Stock Performance

FI opened at $208.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $209.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.94. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $136.93 and a 12-month high of $223.23.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $222.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $190.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.00.

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.