Visa Inc. $V Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,133,134 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 22,948 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 0.6% of Cerity Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $397,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 446.2% in the 4th quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.78.

Visa Price Performance

Visa stock opened at $319.51 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $316.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.48. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $375.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $573.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

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

Visa announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.34%.

About Visa

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.