Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Buys 31,589 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its Visa stake by 362.7% in the first quarter, buying 31,589 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 40,298 shares worth about $12.18 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 17.1% from a year earlier.
• The company authorized a $20 billion stock buyback and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target near $397.96.

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 362.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,298 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 31,589 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $12,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the first quarter worth approximately $91,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Visa by 4.2% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 827,943 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $250,238,000 after purchasing an additional 33,025 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Visa by 29,706.3% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,216,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,308,345 shares during the period. Kenora Financial LLC raised its position in Visa by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Kenora Financial LLC now owns 16,648 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,032,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisbourg Investments Inc. raised its position in Visa by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 12,724 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $341.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $613.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $323.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $324.40. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $359.66.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The business's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's payout ratio is 23.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $365.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore set a $350.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $397.96.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world's largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa's network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa's product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

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