Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Has $11.91 Million Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV boosted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,996 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 4.6% of Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV's holdings in Visa were worth $11,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in Visa by 377.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 105 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $2,978,899.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $185,576.46. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,098 shares of company stock worth $36,738,526 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of V opened at $340.16 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $338.37. The company has a market capitalization of $627.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup began coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $372.80.

Visa 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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