210,936 Shares in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 210,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $43,330,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fiserv by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 11,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Fiserv by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $841,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Fiserv by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Fiserv by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $848,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Fiserv by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 864 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FI shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.83.

Fiserv Stock Down 1.7 %

Fiserv stock opened at $218.01 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $220.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $122.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. Fiserv, Inc. has a twelve month low of $145.98 and a twelve month high of $238.59.

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

Fiserv declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.