FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Purchases 1,046 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,451 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 1.5% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Visa were worth $5,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brio Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its stake in Visa by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $730,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,043 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,640 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,282,000 after buying an additional 4,774 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $285.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.78 and a 1 year high of $290.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $266.97 and its 200 day moving average is $273.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $520.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.42. The company had revenue of $8.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.92 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 51.94% and a net margin of 54.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 23.24%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at $148,687.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Compass Point started coverage on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $319.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Visa from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $322.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Visa from $321.00 to $319.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $309.54.

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.