Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 440 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Oak Capital LLC bought a new position in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FI. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. BNP Paribas raised Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Fiserv from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.33.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In related news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total transaction of $9,801,484.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,209,646. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 111,575 shares of company stock valued at $17,022,387 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Performance

NYSE:FI traded down $1.58 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $154.31. 1,940,748 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,558,118. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.91. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.11 and a 1-year high of $159.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $152.67 and a 200 day moving average of $138.36.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.57 billion. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.68% and a return on equity of 15.73%. Fiserv’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current 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.