Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $5.35 Million Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,911 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,426 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $5,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of V. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,059,111 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $566,153,000 after purchasing an additional 199,440 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,538 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $17,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 49,994 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $13,746,000 after purchasing an additional 6,605 shares during the period. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at about $803,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. This trade represents a 34.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 58,056 shares of company stock worth $19,830,050. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Visa from $279.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Visa from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Visa from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $354.73.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $354.95 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $327.75 and its 200-day moving average is $301.05. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $357.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $659.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.78, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.79%.

Visa Company 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.