Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Investors purchased 32,947 Fiserv call options, approximately 70% above the average call volume of 19,421.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Fiserv has a consensus “Hold” rating, with 26 analysts rating it Hold, five Buy, and four Sell; the average price target is $70.21.
• Recent operating performance fell short of expectations: Fiserv reported quarterly EPS of $1.84 versus the $1.91 consensus and revenue of $4.96 billion versus $5.04 billion expected, while revenue declined 4.1% year over year.

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 32,947 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 70% compared to the average volume of 19,421 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial set a $53.00 target price on shares of Fiserv and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Fiserv in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $55.00 price target (down from $60.00) on shares of Fiserv in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Fiserv from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fiserv presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.21.

Fiserv Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Fiserv stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Monday, reaching $46.05. 5,615,304 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,650,828. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Fiserv has a twelve month low of $43.87 and a twelve month high of $128.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.80.

Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.07). Fiserv had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 15.80%. The company had revenue of $4.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. The company's revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fiserv will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fiserv

In other news, Director Lance Fritz purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $51.95 per share, for a total transaction of $519,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,413,403.65. The trade was a 58.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fiserv

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in Fiserv in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Fiserv during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bank of New Hampshire bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fiserv during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. 90.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fiserv

Fiserv, Inc is a global financial technology company that provides payments and financial services technology to banks, credit unions, merchants and other businesses. Its offerings support electronic payments, account processing, digital banking, merchant acquiring, fraud prevention and related financial services operations.

The company's products and platforms include Clover, a point-of-sale and business management system for small and midsize businesses; Carat, which provides enterprise commerce and payment solutions; and services that help financial institutions manage accounts, digital channels, card programs, payments and data.

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