Ethic Inc. Increases Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,367 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 20,323 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 1.0% of Ethic Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $49,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in V. Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,409,000. Fiduciary Trust Co grew its position in shares of Visa by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 135,392 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $42,789,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 1,253,658 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $399,454,000 after purchasing an additional 5,704 shares during the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $283,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,047,921 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $331,185,000 after buying an additional 64,606 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.5 %

Visa stock traded up $1.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $352.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,086,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,169,131. The company has a market cap of $655.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $327.02. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $366.54.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $362.38.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.41, for a total value of $13,395,133.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,991,249.33. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $194,931. The trade was a 94.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 121,948 shares of company stock valued at $41,548,282 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.