Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Fiserv (NYSE:FI) Stock

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $258.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 26.31% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on FI. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Stephens raised Fiserv from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Fiserv from $208.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.38.

Fiserv Stock Up 0.4 %

Fiserv stock opened at $204.26 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $206.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $116.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.93. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $131.41 and a twelve month high of $223.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fiserv news, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total transaction of $4,468,394.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 38,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,320,644.31. This represents a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Heidi Miller sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.13, for a total transaction of $6,033,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,684,555.55. This represents a 47.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 235,821 shares of company stock valued at $44,299,745 over the last 90 days. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fiserv

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Fiserv by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 18,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS grew its position in Fiserv by 147.0% in the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 3,226 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the period. LVZ Inc. increased its stake in Fiserv by 106.4% during the 2nd quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital LLC raised its holdings in Fiserv by 1.5% during the second quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 23,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,572,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.