Lynch Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Lynch Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,300 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 1.7% of Lynch Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Lynch Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $4,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at $731,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at $616,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Visa by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 75,456 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $23,847,000 after buying an additional 4,198 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,987,000. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC boosted its position in Visa by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 404,914 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $111,331,000 after buying an additional 20,023 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $345.31 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $318.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $643.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $351.25.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.2 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on V. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $393.00 target price (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Visa from $318.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Visa from $354.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $354.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total transaction of $2,739,263.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,983 shares of company stock valued at $7,213,146 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.