Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Purchases 57 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Fiserv by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427,664 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at about $764,543,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Fiserv by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,711,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $762,328,000 after acquiring an additional 164,949 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Fiserv by 3.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,685,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $302,737,000 after acquiring an additional 48,413 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fiserv by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,317,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,739,000 after acquiring an additional 4,218 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on FI shares. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $278.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fiserv has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.83.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FI opened at $229.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Fiserv, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.98 and a 1-year high of $237.99. The company has a market capitalization of $128.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.07.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 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%. Research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fiserv announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to buyback 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

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.