ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $56.25 Million Stock Position in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 273,837 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,126 shares during the quarter. Fiserv comprises about 2.3% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Fiserv were worth $56,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Fiserv by 17.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,442,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,341,000 after buying an additional 1,427,664 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,612,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $687,489,000 after acquiring an additional 85,598 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Fiserv in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $764,543,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Fiserv by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,685,157 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $302,737,000 after purchasing an additional 48,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Fiserv by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,317,778 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company’s stock.

Fiserv Price Performance

Fiserv stock opened at $208.67 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $118.71 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.94. Fiserv, Inc. has a one year low of $136.93 and a one year high of $223.23.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fiserv, Inc. will post 8.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $183.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Fiserv from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Fiserv from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Fiserv from $222.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Fiserv from $185.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fiserv presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Kenneth Best sold 20,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.61, for a total transaction of $4,468,394.81. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 38,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,320,644.31. This represents a 34.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Doyle Simons sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total value of $8,078,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 76,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,386,074.60. This trade represents a 34.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 90,821 shares of company stock worth $18,581,095 in the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.