Vestcor Inc Buys 3,237 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 63,526 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,237 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 0.7% of Vestcor Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Visa were worth $22,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $351.92 on Wednesday. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $254.51 and a 12 month high of $375.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $355.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $345.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $649.35 billion, a PE ratio of 35.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.92.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The firm had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.72%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. The trade was a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,108 shares of company stock valued at $36,771,200 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Macquarie lowered their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.52.

Visa 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.