Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 22,201 Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI)

Key Points

• The Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Fiserv, Inc. by 24.2%, selling 22,201 shares and retaining 69,549 shares valued at approximately $15.36 million.
• Institutional investors now own 90.98% of Fiserv's shares, with significant increases in holdings from firms like GAMMA Investing LLC, which boosted its position by 21,681%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Fiserv, with one sell rating, two hold ratings, and twenty-three buy ratings, leading to an average target price of $207.08.

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI - Free Report) by 24.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,549 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 22,201 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Fiserv were worth $15,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FI. R Squared Ltd increased its position in shares of Fiserv by 362.0% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 3,280 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Fiserv during the 1st quarter worth about $2,397,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Fiserv by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 167,106 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $36,902,000 after acquiring an additional 17,435 shares in the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in Fiserv by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,499 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 4,990 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,102,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FI. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Fiserv from $225.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Fiserv from $244.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Fiserv from $180.00 to $165.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Fiserv from $225.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Fiserv from $267.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $207.08.

Fiserv Stock Performance

FI traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $134.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,699,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,792,579. Fiserv, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $128.22 and a fifty-two week high of $238.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.66.

Fiserv (NYSE:FI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.04. Fiserv had a return on equity of 19.69% and a net margin of 16.00%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fiserv

In other news, insider Adam L. Rosman sold 2,512 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.68, for a total value of $403,628.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 53,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,577,901.80. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrew Gelb sold 5,652 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $904,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,061,600. This trade represents a 18.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.