Strong Tower Advisory Services Boosts Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,430 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 2.0% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Visa were worth $4,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Visa by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 74,133,003 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $17,605,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,891 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Visa by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 51,122,866 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $10,621,287,000 after buying an additional 5,864,340 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 4.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 50,357,747 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $11,582,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257,605 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 116,608.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,504,130 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $5,090,978,000 after acquiring an additional 24,483,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Visa by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,879,347 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,483,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,104 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of V traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $278.78. The company had a trading volume of 5,844,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,650,746. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $216.14 and a fifty-two week high of $290.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $279.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.66. The stock has a market cap of $511.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.55 billion. Visa had a net margin of 53.92% and a return on equity of 50.02%. Visa’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.94%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 36,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.20, for a total transaction of $9,874,729.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,716,662.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total transaction of $729,271.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,898 shares in the company, valued at $1,365,954.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rajat Taneja sold 36,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.20, for a total transaction of $9,874,729.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,716,662.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,311 shares of company stock valued at $12,832,129. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $296.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Visa from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.82.

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.