Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Fiserv, Inc. (FISV)?

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) was in 18 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. FISV investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest recently. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with FISV holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Also, Sterne Agee announced today about downgrading Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV).

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to watch publicly traded companies. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of motivations for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a look at the key action encompassing Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV).

How have hedgies been trading Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -5% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, John Armitage’s Egerton Capital Limited had the biggest position in Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV), worth close to $134.8 million, comprising 5% of its total 13F portfolio. On Egerton Capital Limited’s heels is Brave Warrior Capital, managed by Glenn Greenberg, which held a $111.5 million position; 6.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital, Lou Simpson’s SQ Advisors and Steven Richman’s East Side Capital (RR Partners).

Judging by the fact that Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) has faced bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there were a few hedge funds who were dropping their full holdings at the end of the year. Intriguingly, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital said goodbye to the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we watch, comprising about $6.2 million in stock.. Anand Parekh’s fund, Alyeska Investment Group, also sold off its stock, about $1.2 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds at the end of the year.

What have insiders been doing with Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV). These stocks are FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT), Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS), Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO), and Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS). All of these stocks are in the business services industry and their market caps resemble FISV’s market cap.

With the results shown by our strategies, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) is an important part of this process.

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