Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) Short Interest Update

Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) saw a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,300,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the August 15th total of 7,780,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FI. KeyCorp raised their price target on Fiserv from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Fiserv from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Fiserv from $176.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Fiserv from $156.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other Fiserv news, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,764,211.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.97, for a total transaction of $3,959,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 163,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,005,424.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Gibbons sold 18,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,764,211.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,890 shares of company stock valued at $10,853,407 in the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fiserv

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth about $5,885,279,000. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,329,623,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $927,298,000. Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth $900,674,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the fourth quarter valued at $874,377,000. 90.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fiserv Stock Performance

NYSE:FI traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $175.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,568,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,450,034. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $156.26. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $109.11 and a twelve month high of $176.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Fiserv had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 17.45%. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Fiserv will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.