LifeWealth Investments LLC Grows Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

LifeWealth Investments LLC lifted its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 66.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,099 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of V. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 377.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 105 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Citigroup started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Macquarie lowered their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total value of $3,020,792.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $188,186.28. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This trade represents a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 101,098 shares of company stock worth $36,738,526. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Visa stock traded down $2.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $338.04. The company had a trading volume of 19,326,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,073,546. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $623.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $351.69 and a 200 day moving average of $338.37. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The company had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.51 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.72%.

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.