Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI - Free Report) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,069 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Fiserv were worth $3,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FI. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company's stock.
In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total value of $10,599,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.
FI stock traded down $1.91 on Friday, hitting $218.04. 4,456,911 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,995,866. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $238.59. The stock has a market cap of $122.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $218.31 and a 200-day moving average of $202.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.
Fiserv (NYSE:FI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. On average, analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Fiserv announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase 60,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Fiserv from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.83.
Read Our Latest Report on Fiserv
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.
Before you consider Fiserv, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Fiserv wasn't on the list.
While Fiserv currently has a Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.