Kovack Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,665 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Apeiron RIA LLC grew its position in Fiserv by 2.9% during the third quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 3,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Fiserv by 4.0% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Fiserv by 0.9% during the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 10,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Fiserv by 2.3% during the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 4,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in Fiserv by 75.8% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised Fiserv from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Fiserv from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. BNP Paribas raised Fiserv from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Fiserv from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.33.

Fiserv Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE FI traded up $2.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $155.89. The stock had a trading volume of 3,196,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,315,910. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $152.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $91.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.91. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.11 and a 52-week high of $159.99.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.57 billion. Fiserv had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 16.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 63,646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.00, for a total value of $9,801,484.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,209,646. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 111,575 shares of company stock valued at $17,022,387 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.75% 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.