Joseph Group Capital Management Boosts Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Joseph Group Capital Management boosted its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 14.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,310 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 1.7% of Joseph Group Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in Visa were worth $5,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Essex LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.9% during the third quarter. Essex LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Visa by 0.3% during the third quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 12,309 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,202,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Invested Advisors purchased a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $564,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $349.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $637.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $340.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $344.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $299.00 and a 12-month high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Visa had a return on equity of 60.31% and a net margin of 50.15%.The company had revenue of $10.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. UBS Group set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Visa and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI set a $380.00 price target on Visa in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Erste Group Bank lowered Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $402.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,608,789.09. This represents a 7.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This trade represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,042 shares of company stock valued at $8,247,289. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.