Short Interest in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Decreases By 10.8%

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,764,211.83. This trade represents a 40.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 38,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,320,644.31. This represents a 34.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 254,711 shares of company stock worth $47,477,232 over the last ninety days. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 5.9% during the first 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 during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the first quarter worth $239,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 377.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 56,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,047,000 after buying an additional 44,776 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 23.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 862 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,235,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Trading Up 0.0 %

FI stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $210.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,279,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,653,580. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Fiserv has a 52 week low of $121.86 and a 52 week high of $215.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.67. The stock has a market cap of $120.00 billion, a PE ratio of 40.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fiserv will post 8.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research began coverage on Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Fiserv from $188.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Fiserv from $175.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.74.

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.