Meridiem Capital Partners LP Invests $12.04 Million in Visa Inc. $V

Meridiem Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 35,278 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $12,043,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Nelson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Visa by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 30,807 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $10,517,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 7.1% in the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 11,099 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,789,000 after buying an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Global Endowment Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 10.8% in the third quarter. Global Endowment Management LP now owns 2,400 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. South Plains Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 5.3% during the third quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 6,662 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,274,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saiph Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 6.5% during the third quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 5,468 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,867,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on V shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $395.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Freedom Capital upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America began coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $392.65.

Visa Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $308.35. The stock had a trading volume of 557,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,073,653. The company has a market cap of $559.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $299.00 and a 12 month high of $375.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $326.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $336.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.69 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is 25.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.