Mechanics Bank Trust Department Buys 382 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department boosted its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,050 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 1.2% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Visa were worth $8,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of V. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,943,773 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $5,973,432,000 after acquiring an additional 596,950 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Visa by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,895,788 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,659,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,238 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $3,895,015,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Visa by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,229,004 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,272,846,000 after buying an additional 374,489 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,824,113 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,078,408,000 after acquiring an additional 85,123 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $273.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $500.51 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $274.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.41. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $226.02 and a one year high of $290.96.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. Visa had a net margin of 53.87% and a return on equity of 51.23%. Visa’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on V. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $322.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $303.56.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total value of $2,298,952.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,833.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 25,293 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.15, for a total value of $7,009,954.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,959,322.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total transaction of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,833.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,402 shares of company stock valued at $9,559,382. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.