BluePath Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

BluePath Capital Management LLC increased its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,982 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 0.8% of BluePath Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in V. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth $31,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. West Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Visa by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 179 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Stock Up 0.3 %

Visa stock opened at $317.10 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $321.61. The stock has a market cap of $590.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $312.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Visa from $339.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Visa from $319.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Visa

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.