Empirical Finance LLC Cuts Stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 268 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $4,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the third quarter valued at approximately $378,000. Fermata Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the third quarter worth approximately $215,000. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new stake in Fiserv during the 3rd quarter valued at $172,993,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Fiserv by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 22,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,055,000 after buying an additional 7,062 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FI. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Fiserv from $233.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Fiserv from $190.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Tigress Financial upped 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. Stephens boosted their price target on Fiserv from $255.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fiserv 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 value of $4,468,394.81. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 38,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,320,644.31. The trade was a 34.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fiserv Price Performance

NYSE FI opened at $230.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $130.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.71, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.14 and a 12 month high of $233.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $209.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 17.93%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current 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.