Allianz SE Acquires Shares of 11,944 Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Allianz SE bought a new stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,464,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at $1,406,452,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth about $614,982,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth about $134,710,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Fiserv by 788.7% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 632,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,700,000 after purchasing an additional 561,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Fiserv by 30,479.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 484,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $99,628,000 after buying an additional 483,411 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of FI stock opened at $216.15 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.91. Fiserv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $145.98 and a fifty-two week high of $238.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Fiserv in a report on Sunday, March 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fiserv has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $242.32.

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.