Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 388 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $3,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FI. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Fiserv during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Clean Yield Group increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 431.3% during the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 170 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 42.5% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fiserv by 95.5% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 260 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FI shares. StockNews.com raised Fiserv from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $183.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho lifted 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. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Fiserv in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fiserv from $199.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fiserv has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $207.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,764,211.83. The trade was a 40.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.37, for a total transaction of $25,718,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,965,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $525,916,949.08. This trade represents a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,711 shares of company stock valued at $47,477,232. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fiserv Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:FI opened at $210.15 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $189.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.73. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.86 and a 52-week high of $215.50. 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 $119.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.55, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.92.

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