AmeriServ Wealth Advisors Invests $935,000 in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

AmeriServ Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,960 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $935,000. Visa accounts for 0.5% of AmeriServ Wealth Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $348.67. 3,864,472 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,225,086. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $337.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $325.07. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $366.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $647.75 billion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.51 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $362.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total value of $815,313.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,094.56. The trade was a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. The trade was a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 143,208 shares of company stock worth $48,905,978. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.