Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Raises Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. grew its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 13.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,620 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 2.0% of Bernard Wealth Management Corp.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Bernard Wealth Management Corp.'s holdings in Visa were worth $4,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after buying an additional 7,079,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,345,176 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $12,729,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,926 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 866,596 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,277,622 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $7,356,614,000 after purchasing an additional 241,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,771,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,707 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE V traded up $2.41 on Tuesday, reaching $357.89. 5,489,446 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,012,278. The stock has a market capitalization of $660.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $350.71 and a 200 day moving average of $338.05.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Visa's payout ratio is 23.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.41, for a total transaction of $13,395,133.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,991,249.33. This represents a 59.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This trade represents a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 140,448 shares of company stock valued at $50,133,659. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on V. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $372.80.

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.