Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 219,375 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 13.9% in the first quarter, acquiring 219,375 shares to own a total of 1,799,466 shares.
• Visa announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, payable on September 2nd.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings for Visa, with a consensus target price of $380.84 and the majority rating it as a "Moderate Buy".

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 13.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,799,466 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 219,375 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 0.9% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Visa worth $629,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FWL Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 6,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,005,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Visa by 2.9% in the first quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,209,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Visa by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 872 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Headinvest LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,265,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,772,810. The trade was a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 75,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,643,224. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $335.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $615.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $258.74 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $352.21 and a 200-day moving average of $347.30.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup began coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $380.84.

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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