Accuvest Global Advisors Invests $1.35 Million in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Accuvest Global Advisors has acquired a new position in Visa Inc., purchasing 3,842 shares valued at approximately $1,346,000, which makes up about 1.1% of their total holdings.
• Insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of Visa for over $17 million, resulting in a significant decrease in his stake by 63.63%.
• Several brokerages have recently rated Visa stock with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and a target price that averages around $380.84, reflecting positive analyst sentiment.

Accuvest Global Advisors bought a new stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,842 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $1,346,000. Visa accounts for about 1.1% of Accuvest Global Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,883 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,733,000 after acquiring an additional 4,817 shares in the last quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 116,611 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $36,854,000 after purchasing an additional 23,575 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its position in Visa by 142.5% in the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,172 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $7,007,000 after purchasing an additional 13,029 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 1,531,579 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $484,079,000 after purchasing an additional 75,355 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $17,099,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,772,810. The trade was a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,100 shares of company stock worth $27,643,224 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Trading Up 1.1%

V traded up $3.58 on Friday, reaching $335.67. 850,009 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,610,892. The company has a market cap of $619.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $258.74 and a twelve month high of $375.51. The company's 50 day moving average is $353.36 and its 200-day moving average is $346.87.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The business had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's payout ratio is 23.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on V shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 price target (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.84.

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.