Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Bought by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Visa Inc. by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 1,363 shares, bringing their total ownership to 78,024 shares valued at $27.35 million.
• Insider selling activity included Paul D. Fabara and CEO Ryan Mcinerney, who sold significant amounts of shares, resulting in a decrease in their positions by 63.63% and 94.14%, respectively.
• Visa's latest quarterly earnings report showed a net revenue of $10.17 billion, exceeding expectations, along with a raise in its dividend to $0.59 per share set to be paid on September 2nd.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,024 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $27,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,082,431 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,452,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677,088 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,816,573 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,526,660,000 after acquiring an additional 866,596 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,277,622 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,356,614,000 after acquiring an additional 241,057 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,771,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,707 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 38,416.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,761,375 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,173,271,000 after acquiring an additional 14,723,050 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on V. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of Visa stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total transaction of $4,363,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,904,875. This trade represents a 30.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,643,224. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $4.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $336.86. The company had a trading volume of 6,071,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,296,455. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $352.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $347.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $617.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.90, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $258.74 and a one year high of $375.51.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's payout ratio is 23.05%.

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.