Covington Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,656 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,625 shares during the quarter. Fiserv accounts for 1.6% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Fiserv were worth $18,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at $1,406,452,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Fiserv by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,711,072 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $762,328,000 after acquiring an additional 164,949 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fiserv by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,620,785 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $743,782,000 after purchasing an additional 90,475 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at about $614,982,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,685,157 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $302,737,000 after buying an additional 48,413 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

In other Fiserv news, COO Guy Chiarello sold 45,000 shares of Fiserv stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.55, for a total transaction of $10,599,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 227,711 shares in the company, valued at $53,637,326.05. The trade was a 16.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Shares of FI opened at $219.32 on Friday. Fiserv, Inc. has a one year low of $145.98 and a one year high of $238.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $221.85 and a 200-day moving average of $207.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $123.10 billion, a PE ratio of 40.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The business services provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.03. Fiserv had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 15.31%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Fiserv announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, February 20th that allows the company to repurchase 60,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FI. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Fiserv from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Fiserv from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $230.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Sunday, March 23rd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Fiserv from $214.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.32.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Fiserv

(Free Report)

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.

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