Verity & Verity LLC Has $1.79 Million Position in Visa Inc. $V

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:VFree Report) by 53.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,108 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Consolidated Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Capital Management LLC now owns 25,741 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $9,028,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of Visa by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 625,439 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $219,348,000 after buying an additional 38,000 shares during the period. Thames Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 51,568 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $18,085,000 after buying an additional 6,079 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $137,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its position in shares of Visa by 112.8% during the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 69,186 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $24,264,000 after buying an additional 36,671 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $327.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $587.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $314.87 and its 200-day moving average is $325.05.

Visa (NYSE:VGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 42,744 shares of company stock worth $14,356,010 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on V. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $386.70.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on V

Key Headlines Impacting Visa

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Visa Profile

(Free Report)

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Visa (NYSE:V)

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