Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Acquires 2,287 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,250 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Visa were worth $11,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the second quarter worth $7,034,939,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Visa by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 19,067,558 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,769,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429,996 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 110.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,954,937 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,396,930,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075,289 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 162,544,006 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $57,711,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,575 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,096,802 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,253,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,631 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $411.00 target price (up previously from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $425.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price objective on Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.6%

Visa stock opened at $320.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $582.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $336.40 and its 200-day moving average is $338.95. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $299.00 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.69 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. Visa’s revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 25.14%.

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.