Holderness Investments Co. Reduces Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Holderness Investments Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FI. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Fiserv by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 5,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fiserv by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 70,917 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,568,000 after acquiring an additional 4,209 shares during the period. Settian Capital LP bought a new stake in Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,438,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Fiserv by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 182,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,388,000 after acquiring an additional 27,478 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Fiserv by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 28,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881 shares during the period. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $258.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fiserv from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.83.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of Fiserv stock opened at $221.77 on Friday. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.98 and a 52-week high of $238.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $220.11 and a 200-day moving average of $205.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. Equities research analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 20th that permits the company to buyback 60,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of the 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 owns 227,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,637,326.05. This represents a 16.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.