Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Short Interest Down 10.8% in October

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,240,000 shares, a decrease of 10.8% from the October 15th total of 9,240,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Fiserv Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE FI traded up $1.82 on Monday, reaching $212.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,746,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,475,094. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.03 billion, a PE ratio of 40.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $191.36 and a 200-day moving average of $168.67. Fiserv has a 1 year low of $121.86 and a 1 year high of $215.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fiserv will post 8.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Fiserv from $178.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $183.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Fiserv from $190.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total transaction of $4,468,394.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,771 shares in the company, valued at $8,320,644.31. The trade was a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 28,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,764,211.83. The trade was a 40.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 254,711 shares of company stock worth $47,477,232. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FI. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Fiserv by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Fiserv in the first quarter worth about $239,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Fiserv by 377.3% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 56,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,047,000 after buying an additional 44,776 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Fiserv by 23.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 862 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its stake in Fiserv by 5.7% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

About 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.