Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Buys 2,867 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 6.8% during the first quarter, now owning 45,097 shares, valued at approximately $15.8 million.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Visa, with an average target price of $375.52, following several recent upgrades and downgrades.
• Visa announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.67%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio (DPR) of 23.72%.

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,097 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 2.5% of Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $15,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in V. FWL Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Visa by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 6,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. boosted its position in Visa by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Visa by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 872 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its stake in Visa by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,372 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total transaction of $4,363,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,904,875. This represents a 30.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,108 shares of company stock valued at $36,771,200. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:V traded up $2.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $356.93. 3,915,274 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,404,370. The firm has a market cap of $658.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $254.51 and a twelve month high of $375.51. 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's fifty day moving average price is $356.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $345.22.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Visa's payout ratio is 23.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on V shares. Macquarie decreased their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $375.52.

About Visa

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.