Costello Asset Management INC Has $7.41 Million Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Costello Asset Management INC increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,704 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,904 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 2.5% of Costello Asset Management INC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Visa were worth $7,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Bare Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in Visa by 287.0% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 89 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Visa in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the second quarter worth $40,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total value of $707,919.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,608,789.09. This represents a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,282,641.18. The trade was a 52.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $325.48 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $299.00 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company has a market cap of $590.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $338.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $340.57.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.75 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore set a $380.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up previously from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.29.

Visa Profile

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.