Fluent Financial LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Fluent Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,635 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 1.2% of Fluent Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Fluent Financial LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $2,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Visa by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,943,773 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $5,973,432,000 after acquiring an additional 596,950 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Visa by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,895,788 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,659,169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,238 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $3,895,015,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,824,113 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,078,408,000 after purchasing an additional 85,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Visa by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,524,329 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,725,079,000 after purchasing an additional 141,566 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Visa from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Visa from $297.00 to $299.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $314.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.56.

Visa Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $268.99 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.68 and a fifty-two week high of $290.96. The company has a market cap of $491.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $273.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.08. Visa had a net margin of 53.87% and a return on equity of 51.23%. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Visa’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 25,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.15, for a total value of $7,009,954.95. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,959,322.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of Visa 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $713,950.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 25,293 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.15, for a total transaction of $7,009,954.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $4,959,322.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.