Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Increases Stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $2,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Clean Yield Group increased its holdings in Fiserv by 431.3% in the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 170 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fiserv by 42.5% in the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FI. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fiserv from $183.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $278.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Fiserv from $188.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fiserv currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Heidi Miller sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.13, for a total value of $6,033,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 33,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,684,555.55. This represents a 47.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 235,821 shares of company stock worth $44,299,745. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Stock Performance

Shares of FI stock opened at $217.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.25. The company has a market cap of $123.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.92. Fiserv, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.05 and a 12-month high of $219.11.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 15.22%. Fiserv’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 EPS 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.