Palisade Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,002 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,993,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FI. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,705,241,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter worth $450,830,000. California Public Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $423,780,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter valued at about $400,079,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 4th quarter worth about $422,884,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FI has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Fiserv from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $164.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $9,801,484.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,209,646. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,575 shares of company stock valued at $17,022,387. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FI traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $153.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,210,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,547,072. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $152.78 and a 200-day moving average of $139.96. The company has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.92. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.11 and a 12-month high of $159.99.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. Fiserv had a net margin of 16.68% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $4.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS 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.