ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $36.27 Million in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 273,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $36,266,000. Fiserv comprises approximately 1.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,506,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,705,241,000 after purchasing an additional 789,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Fiserv by 4.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,700,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,904,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022,653 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fiserv by 1.2% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,421,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,400,906,000 after acquiring an additional 149,811 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Fiserv by 131.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,980,646 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,008,744,000 after acquiring an additional 5,666,145 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Fiserv by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,606,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $833,435,000 after purchasing an additional 817,660 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on FI. Oppenheimer raised Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Fiserv from $144.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $3,588,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,477,911.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 111,575 shares of company stock valued at $17,022,387 over the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FI traded up $1.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $148.63. 2,515,094 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,512,931. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.11 and a 52 week high of $159.99. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $151.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.51 billion, a PE ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.04. Fiserv had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.