Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,240,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the September 30th total of 8,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other news, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.21, for a total value of $3,177,486.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,764,211.83. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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 link. In related news, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.21, for a total transaction of $3,177,486.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,764,211.83. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $3,959,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,005,424.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 257,890 shares of company stock valued at $46,968,117 over the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fiserv

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fiserv by 67.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,251,722 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $519,690,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306,901 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,840,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,011,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,078 shares in the last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at $172,993,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the second quarter worth about $105,031,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Fiserv by 1,642.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 500,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $74,556,000 after purchasing an additional 471,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Price Performance

Shares of Fiserv stock opened at $197.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.59 billion, a PE ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Fiserv has a 12 month low of $113.11 and a 12 month high of $204.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $183.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.96.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fiserv will post 8.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Fiserv from $185.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Fiserv from $175.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $199.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on Fiserv from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.25.

Fiserv Company 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.