Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 953 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

by · The Markets Daily

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,348 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. Visa comprises 0.7% of Wedbush Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $19,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of V. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,171,271,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after purchasing an additional 7,079,706 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,955,403,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Visa by 17,018.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,949,118 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,248,079,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,655,250 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $10,601,135,000 after buying an additional 2,772,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $355.84.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Visa

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $313.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $345.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $316.89. The firm has a market cap of $582.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $366.54.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. Research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total value of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,642,333.60. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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