Visa Inc. $V Shares Bought by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 40.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,311 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 1,806 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $2,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of V. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Visa by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 162,544,006 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $57,711,249,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461,575 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Visa by 2.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,096,802 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $15,253,245,000 after buying an additional 1,067,631 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Visa during the second quarter worth approximately $7,034,939,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Visa by 14.6% during the second quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 19,067,558 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,769,936,000 after buying an additional 2,429,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Visa by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,820,885 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,552,057,000 after buying an additional 145,665 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of V stock opened at $349.75 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $299.00 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The firm has a market cap of $637.15 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $340.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $344.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.15% and a return on equity of 60.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.71 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Visa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $382.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $398.00 target price on shares of Visa and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up previously from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.52.

Insider Activity at Visa

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

Visa Company Profile

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.