Cerity Partners LLC Grows Position in Visa Inc. $V

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,133,134 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,948 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 0.6% of Cerity Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Visa worth $397,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,883 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,733,000 after buying an additional 4,817 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its position in shares of Visa by 4.6% during the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of Visa by 16.9% during the second quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Visa by 13.8% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,521,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of Visa stock opened at $319.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $573.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $316.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.48. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $375.51.

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

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.67 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on V shares. UBS Group increased 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. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Visa from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $371.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.78.

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.