Strong Tower Advisory Services Raises Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 20.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,696 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,992 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 1.7% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Visa were worth $8,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forbes J M & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 67,169 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $20,301,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 8,093 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,446,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Swisher Financial Concepts Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Swisher Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Visa by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 13,498 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,080,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Price Performance

V stock opened at $327.78 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $321.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.18. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $359.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $587.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.77.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial set a $371.00 price objective on shares of Visa and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.78.

Visa Company 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.