Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $290,000 in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,113 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Visa in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 545.5% in the third quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC now owns 142 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $269.78 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $279.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.12. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.14 and a 12-month high of $290.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $495.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.45.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.07. Visa had a return on equity of 50.02% and a net margin of 53.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Visa from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $296.00 to $306.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $307.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total transaction of $729,271.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares in the company, valued at $1,365,954.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.39, for a total value of $2,228,128.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total value of $729,271.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,898 shares in the company, valued at $1,365,954.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,965 shares of company stock worth $5,256,352 over the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Visa

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.