Merit Financial Group LLC Has $16.47 Million Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 32.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,121 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,636 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $16,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of V. Unionview LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Unionview LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Presilium Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Presilium Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $475,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. FWG Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, St. Louis Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 3,885 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $319.97 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $321.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average is $313.41 and its 200-day moving average is $288.45. The company has a market capitalization of $596.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 53.16% and a net margin of 54.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on V shares. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Visa from $339.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Visa from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Visa from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,510,815.18. This trade represents a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company 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.