Calton & Associates Inc. Invests $1.23 Million in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Calton & Associates Inc. has invested approximately $1.23 million in Visa Inc. by acquiring 3,505 shares during the first quarter.
• Visa recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.98, surpassing analysts' estimates, with revenue of $10.17 billion, marking a 14.3% year-over-year increase.
• Visa's Board has declared a $0.59 per share quarterly dividend, with the ex-dividend date set for August 12th.

Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,505 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $1,228,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter worth approximately $238,000. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 10,518 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,686,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $205,000. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 42.9% during the first quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,190 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,272,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Visa by 7.8% in the first quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 156,007 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $54,674,000 after acquiring an additional 11,316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,127 shares of company stock valued at $28,340,553 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $351.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $645.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.94. The company's fifty day moving average is $348.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.42. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $268.23 and a 1 year high of $375.51.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on V. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $408.00 target price (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.84.

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.

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