Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Visa Inc. by 1.6%, now owning 44,490 shares valued at approximately $15.59 million, making Visa its 17th largest investment.
• Analysts have varied ratings for Visa, with a consensus price target of $375.52; Oppenheimer has recently raised their target to $391.00, indicating an "outperform" rating.
• Visa declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.66% and a dividend payout ratio of 23.72%.

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,490 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 715 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 0.9% of Empirical Finance LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Empirical Finance LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $15,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on V shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI started coverage on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $375.52.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V opened at $356.93 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $254.51 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $658.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $356.30 and a 200-day moving average of $345.00.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total value of $4,363,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,904,875. This trade represents a 30.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,108 shares of company stock worth $36,771,200. 0.13% of the stock is currently 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.

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