ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,091 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,137 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up approximately 2.0% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $49,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 970.0% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 107 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 211.9% during the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,687.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $287.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $525.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $272.74. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $228.03 and a 12 month high of $293.07.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42. Visa had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 51.94%. The company had revenue of $8.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 9.92 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Visa from $320.00 to $318.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, September 27th. Compass Point initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $319.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.19.

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.