Giverny Capital Asset Management, LLC, an investment management company, recently published its fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The portfolio continued its strong performance in the fourth quarter, but trailed the S&P 500 Index. The portfolio returned 0.78% compared to a 2.41% return for the S&P 500 Total Return Index in the quarter. The fund returned 21.09% in 2024 compared to the 25.02% return for the Index during the same period. For more information on the fund’s top picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Giverny Capital Asset Management emphasized stocks such as Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI). Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) is a payment and fintech services provider. The one-month return of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) was 15.33%, and its shares gained 60.33% of their value over the last 52 weeks. The one-month return Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) was -8.07%, and its shares gained 9.50% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 6, 2024, Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) stock closed at $213.24 per share, with a market capitalization of $131.557 billion.
Giverny Capital Asset Management stated the following regarding Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI), purchased in 2022. Fiserv has two complimentary businesses, the first providing technology infrastructure to regional banks and the second offering payment processing solutions to restaurants, retailers and other businesses. These two products reinforce each other because many small businesses buy payment solutions from their banks, the idea being to connect the point-of-sale terminal directly to a bank account. Thus, bank customers often act as a sales channel for Fiserv, which gives it an advantage over competitors who sell payment terminals to stores that may not be supported by their bank.
Fiserv has compounded earnings in double digits for decades and shows little sign of slowing down. Its Clover-brand payment processing product is growing rapidly. Fiserv’s PE multiple is about 20x estimates for 2025 earnings. Market cap: $118 billion.”
A businessperson checking their laptop, highlighting the company’s integration of technology across its banking and financial services.
Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 71 hedge fund portfolios held Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) at the end of the third quarter which was 73 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article we discussed Fiserv, Inc. (NYSE:FI) and shared the list of best cash app stocks to buy according to hedge funds. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.