Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) Stock Price Down 1.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Fiserv from "overweight" to "equal weight" with an $81 price target, and the stock fell about 1.1% to roughly $62.70 on the news.
• Multiple other firms have trimmed ratings (several "buy"→"hold"/"neutral" moves), leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.25, signaling mixed analyst sentiment.
• Director Lance M. Fritz bought 10,000 shares at $65.18 (insiders own ~1%), while institutional investors hold about 90.98% of the stock.

Shares of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV - Get Free Report) traded down 1.1% on Monday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating. Morgan Stanley now has a $81.00 price target on the stock. Fiserv traded as low as $62.41 and last traded at $62.70. 5,426,787 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 5,633,148 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.42.

FISV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Fiserv from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Fiserv from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Fiserv from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $62.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Fiserv from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fiserv news, Director Lance M. Fritz bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $65.18 per share, with a total value of $651,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 13,086 shares in the company, valued at $852,945.48. The trade was a 324.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fiserv

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Fiserv by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,463 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 0.3% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 16,794 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,709,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 5.1% during the first quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fiserv by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,598 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fiserv by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 13,874 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,064,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fiserv Stock Down 1.1%

The firm has a market cap of $34.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50-day moving average is $111.52 and its 200-day moving average is $141.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter. Fiserv had a net margin of 17.05% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that Fiserv, Inc. will post 10.23 EPS for the current 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.