D.A. Davidson & CO. Raises Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 350,767 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 4,175 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 1.0% of D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Visa were worth $122,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the first quarter worth approximately $54,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Macquarie lowered their price objective on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.84.

Visa Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE V traded down $2.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $354.43. The company had a trading volume of 6,964,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,837,239. The company has a market capitalization of $653.98 billion, a PE ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $356.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.00.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.72%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $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 101,108 shares of company stock valued at $36,771,200 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.