Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Increases Holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 68,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,590 shares during the last quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Fiserv by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 422,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $86,883,000 after acquiring an additional 15,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Fiserv by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,092,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $429,849,000 after purchasing an additional 471,676 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fiserv Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE FI opened at $216.15 on Monday. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.98 and a 52 week high of $238.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.17. 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 $121.32 billion, a PE ratio of 40.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on FI. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Fiserv in a report on Sunday, March 23rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $242.32.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

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.