Ledyard National Bank Raises Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Ledyard National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 47,420 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 1.3% of Ledyard National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Visa were worth $12,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 17,418.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,737,229 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,233,338,000 after buying an additional 4,710,188 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Visa by 4.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 50,357,747 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $11,582,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257,605 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at $358,349,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Visa by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,929,979 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $903,955,000 after purchasing an additional 999,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,983,190 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $916,174,000 after purchasing an additional 871,439 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total value of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,833.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total value of $729,271.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,365,954.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,833.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,874 shares of company stock valued at $5,506,827 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE V traded down $2.71 during trading on Monday, reaching $271.81. 4,191,968 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,930,494. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.14 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market cap of $499.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $264.97.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. Visa had a net margin of 53.87% and a return on equity of 51.23%. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Visa from $314.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen began coverage on Visa in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Visa from $309.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $302.58.

Visa 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.