Centaurus Financial Inc. Increases Stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 493 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new position in Fiserv in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $172,993,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 2nd quarter worth $105,031,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Fiserv by 1,238.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 603,887 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,488,000 after purchasing an additional 558,774 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 1,642.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 500,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $74,556,000 after purchasing an additional 471,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the first quarter valued at $52,503,000. Institutional investors own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Price Performance

NYSE:FI opened at $222.45 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $171.95. Fiserv, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.42 and a 52 week high of $223.23. The stock has a market cap of $126.56 billion, a PE ratio of 42.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.92. 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 (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 15.22%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FI shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Fiserv in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Fiserv from $188.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Fiserv from $177.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Doyle Simons sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total value of $8,078,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 76,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,386,074.60. The trade was a 34.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Frank Bisignano sold 145,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.37, for a total value of $25,718,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,965,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $525,916,949.08. The trade was a 4.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 235,821 shares of company stock worth $44,299,745. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.