Ground Swell Capital LLC Invests $292,000 in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 923 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,171,271,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Visa by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after buying an additional 7,079,706 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,955,403,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Visa by 17,018.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,949,118 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,248,079,000 after buying an additional 3,926,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Visa by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,771,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,707 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were 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. The trade was a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,060.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,931. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 121,948 shares of company stock worth $41,548,282. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of Visa stock traded up $3.35 on Monday, hitting $355.89. 7,983,595 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,172,394. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $366.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $661.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $336.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $327.32.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on V. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $362.38.

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.