ERn Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

ERn Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,337 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 368 shares during the quarter. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Visa during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. West Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Visa by 101.4% in the third quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in Visa by 79.0% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 179 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE V opened at $317.10 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $312.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.85. The stock has a market cap of $590.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $321.61.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. The business had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Visa from $311.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.92.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $5,510,815.18. This represents a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.