Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires 63,871 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 128.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,750 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,871 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 1.1% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $35,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. West Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in shares of Visa by 79.0% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 179 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $319.97 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $313.16 and its 200 day moving average is $288.06. The stock has a market cap of $596.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.96. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $321.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 53.16% and a net margin of 54.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.22 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on V. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Visa from $311.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Visa from $319.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Visa from $339.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.92.

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.