Meyer Handelman Co. Raises Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,445 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,801 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $32,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the second quarter worth $28,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 82.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Visa by 287.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 89 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $355.09 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $338.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $343.93. The firm has a market cap of $646.87 billion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.82. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $299.00 and a 12-month high of $375.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Visa had a net margin of 50.15% and a return on equity of 60.31%. The firm had revenue of $10.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,608,789.09. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.00, for a total value of $3,575,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $183,117. This trade represents a 95.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,175,152. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. HSBC upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $335.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $402.52.

About Visa

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.