Visa Inc. $V Stock: Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stake

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,232,094 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,849 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 0.7% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Visa were worth $803,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of V. John Boyer Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the second quarter worth $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the second quarter worth $33,000. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the third quarter valued at $35,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on V. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $432.00 to $463.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Visa from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $500.00 price target (up from $445.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $445.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho set a $440.00 price target on Visa in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $443.35.

Visa Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE V opened at $420.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $389.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.62. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $442.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $749.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.20% and a return on equity of 70.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.98 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa’s payout ratio is 25.30%.

More Visa News

Here’s some of the latest news about V:

• Positive Sentiment: Visa and Anchorage Digital are enabling eligible partners to settle VisaNet obligations using Western Union’s USDPT stablecoin. Visa also added the Monad blockchain to its stablecoin settlement program, expanding settlement options as it develops digital-asset services. Visa expands stablecoin services with Anchorage
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains supportive: Bernstein maintained an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $486, while Citigroup reportedly raised its target to $490 and kept a Buy rating. Bernstein analyst recommendations
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa executives Paul Fabara and Julie Rottenberg recently sold shares, but both transactions were under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, and each retained a substantial holding. The planned nature of the sales makes them a less direct signal of near-term expectations. Paul Fabara SEC filing

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total value of $773,377.80. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 3,401 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.09, for a total transaction of $1,438,929.09. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 33,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,348,251.17. This trade represents a 9.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 32,663 shares of company stock valued at $12,634,720 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc. operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online. The company’s services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.