Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,150 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 5,295 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 1.6% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $33,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 0.9% during the second quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,338 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,185,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 6,264 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,178,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Academy Capital Management grew its holdings in Visa by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Academy Capital Management now owns 860 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,608,789.09. The trade was a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.00, for a total value of $3,575,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $183,117. The trade was a 95.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,175,152 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V stock opened at $334.10 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $339.91 and its 200 day moving average is $347.52. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $299.00 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $608.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.87.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.15% and a return on equity of 60.31%. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.71 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on V shares. Citigroup upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Erste Group Bank cut Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $408.00 target price (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Macquarie cut their price target on shares of Visa from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.00.

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.