CenterBook Partners LP Buys 52,136 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

CenterBook Partners LP raised its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 126.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,298 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 52,136 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 2.1% of CenterBook Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Visa were worth $32,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at $54,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.84.

Visa Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of V opened at $347.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $641.58 billion, a PE ratio of 34.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $356.93 and a 200 day moving average of $342.86. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The business's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company'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 value of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,108 shares of company stock worth $36,771,200 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.

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