Gradient Investments LLC Buys 2,093 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,452 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $18,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 545.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC now owns 142 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $279.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,844,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,182,342. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $279.11 and a 200-day moving average of $258.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $512.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.14 and a 12-month high of $290.96.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $304.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Visa 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.