Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases 766,513 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC significantly increased its holdings in Visa Inc. by 467.9% during the 1st quarter, acquiring a total of 930,329 shares valued at approximately $326 million.
• Visa reported a net revenue of $10.17 billion for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, and achieving a year-on-year revenue growth of 14.3%.
• Visa's stock performance has led to multiple analysts expressing positive ratings, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.96.

Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 467.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 930,329 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 766,513 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 0.9% of Acadian Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.05% of Visa worth $326,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in V. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,883 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 4,817 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $2,467,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Visa by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 227,924 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $72,033,000 after purchasing an additional 12,298 shares during the period. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE V opened at $344.11 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $268.23 and a twelve month high of $375.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $630.68 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's 50 day moving average is $348.03 and its 200 day moving average is $347.13.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%.The company had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.05%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,102,438.50. The trade was a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 target price (up from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.96.

Visa 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.

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