Griffin Asset Management Inc. Buys 3,978 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,236 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 3,978 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 1.7% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $14,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Visa by 101.7% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,993 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 116,934 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Visa by 156.7% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 72,096 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $16,583,000 after acquiring an additional 44,013 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 14,550 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,347,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the third quarter worth $1,000,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa by 66.1% during the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,771 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,247,000 after purchasing an additional 3,890 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Down 1.5 %

V traded down $4.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $262.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,957,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,762,266. The stock has a market cap of $480.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.68 and a fifty-two week high of $290.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $273.88 and its 200-day moving average is $273.41.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.62 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 51.23% and a net margin of 53.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 23.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total value of $250,474.95. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $713,950.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total transaction of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,833.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total value of $250,474.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $713,950.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,402 shares of company stock valued at $9,559,382 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Visa from $314.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Visa from $297.00 to $299.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Visa from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $307.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Visa from $335.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $303.56.

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.