Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Stock Price

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $258.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $183.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Fiserv from $190.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Fiserv from $185.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Fiserv from $183.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.38.

Fiserv Trading Up 1.0 %

Fiserv stock traded up $2.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $203.84. 219,672 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,530,676. Fiserv has a 52-week low of $131.41 and a 52-week high of $223.23. The company has a market capitalization of $115.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.20, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $206.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fiserv will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Doyle Simons sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total value of $8,078,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 76,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,074.60. This represents a 34.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 235,821 shares of company stock worth $44,299,745 in the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fiserv

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Fiserv during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Clean Yield Group boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 431.3% in the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 170 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 42.5% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fiserv by 95.5% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 260 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.