LeConte Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• LeConte Wealth Management LLC has purchased 977 shares of Visa Inc., valued at approximately $342,000, indicating a growing interest in the credit card processor's stock.
• Visa reported earnings of $2.98 per share, beating estimates, with revenue increasing by 14.3% year-over-year to $10.17 billion.
• Analysts are optimistic, with several raising their price targets for Visa, suggesting a consensus price target of approximately $380.84 and many maintaining a "buy" rating.

LeConte Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 977 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 5.7% during the first quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth $306,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in Visa by 14.5% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 455,183 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $159,523,000 after acquiring an additional 57,800 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Visa by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 182,658 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $57,727,000 after acquiring an additional 30,185 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Strategies LLC increased its position in Visa by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on V. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,127 shares of company stock worth $28,340,553 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V traded down $0.7980 on Thursday, hitting $343.1320. The stock had a trading volume of 1,389,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,546,942. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $265.31 and a twelve month high of $375.51. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $348.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $347.39. The company has a market capitalization of $628.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

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.