Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 2,632 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,061 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 2,632 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 1.3% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $23,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 45,189.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,758,505 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,683,101,000 after purchasing an additional 9,736,958 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 4,412.3% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,072,467 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,119,725,000 after purchasing an additional 4,166,905 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Visa in the first quarter worth about $511,321,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Visa by 26,951.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,587,944 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $416,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,074 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Visa in the third quarter worth about $268,640,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 0.0 %

V opened at $309.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $251.61 and a 1-year high of $312.44. The company has a market capitalization of $577.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $289.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $277.34.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. The business had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $317.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Visa from $319.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Visa from $318.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $668,602.87. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $5,510,815.18. This trade represents a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares in the company, valued at $148,687.06. The trade was a 94.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.