US Bancorp DE Decreases Stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,938 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,964 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $50,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 17.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,341,000 after buying an additional 1,427,664 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at about $764,543,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,711,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $762,328,000 after purchasing an additional 164,949 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 3.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,685,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $302,737,000 after purchasing an additional 48,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,317,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Fiserv stock opened at $235.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $237.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.28 billion, a PE ratio of 43.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $216.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $201.08.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FI has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

About Fiserv

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.