Country Trust Bank Raises Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Country Trust Bank raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 270,906 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 941 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 1.8% of Country Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Visa were worth $74,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 970.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 107 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 211.9% during the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Visa by 52.9% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 133 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $274.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $273.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $502.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.96. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $228.03 and a 1-year high of $293.07.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42. Visa had a return on equity of 51.94% and a net margin of 54.72%. The firm had revenue of $8.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 23.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total value of $2,382,309.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,687.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Visa from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Visa from $320.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.04.

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.