Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Raises Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Free Report) by 58.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,560 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,390 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 0.8% of Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Visa were worth $38,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 0.6% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $29,242,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,733,284 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,576,366,000 after purchasing an additional 411,210 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Visa in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Visa by 2.0% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 9,137 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,512,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 101.5% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 44,984 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after buying an additional 22,658 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.6 %

Visa stock opened at $329.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $611.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $340.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $320.74. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $366.54.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $355.84.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Visa

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total transaction of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,642,333.60. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total transaction of $3,020,792.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,186.28. This trade represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company 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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