Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Has $5.29 Million Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 154.4%, acquiring a total of 15,089 shares valued at approximately $5.29 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Insiders sold significant amounts of Visa stock recently, with CEO Ryan Mcinerney reducing his holdings by 94.14%, while insider Paul D. Fabara's stock sale resulted in a 30.58% decrease in his position.
• Several analysts have rated Visa positively, with an average target price set at $380.84 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy," reflecting confidence in the company's growth potential.

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 154.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,089 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 9,157 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP's holdings in Visa were worth $5,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of V. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Visa by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,816,573 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,526,660,000 after purchasing an additional 866,596 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Visa by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,277,622 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,356,614,000 after purchasing an additional 241,057 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Visa by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,771,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,707 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 38,416.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,761,375 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,173,271,000 after purchasing an additional 14,723,050 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,321,754 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,210,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,785 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,772,810. This trade represents a 63.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 89,913 shares of company stock valued at $32,902,432. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on V shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 price objective (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.84.

Visa Trading Down 1.9%

V traded down $6.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $338.81. 8,655,366 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,746,410. The firm has a market capitalization of $625.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $254.51 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $355.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.05%.

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.