MML Investors Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 417,672 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $132,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $1.26 on Thursday, hitting $335.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,319,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,828,186. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $366.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $339.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $321.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $623.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. Equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on V shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $2,930,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Visa

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.