Guardian Investment Management Has $2.45 Million Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Guardian Investment Management decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 24.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,980 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 2,300 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 2.0% of Guardian Investment Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Guardian Investment Management's holdings in Visa were worth $2,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Visa by 5.7% in the first quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 182,658 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $57,727,000 after purchasing an additional 30,185 shares during the period. King Wealth Management Group grew its stake in shares of Visa by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 74,874 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $23,663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 1.3%

V traded up $4.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $358.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,702,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,850,467. The stock has a market capitalization of $661.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $355.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $341.46. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Visa from $383.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $372.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa 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 directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This trade represents a 17.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,108 shares of company stock worth $36,771,200. 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.