Advisors Preferred LLC Buys 4,269 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Advisors Preferred LLC increased its Visa stake by 74.9% in the second quarter, purchasing 4,269 additional shares for a total holding of 9,969 shares valued at approximately $3.61 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.15% of Visa.
• Visa reported quarterly EPS of $3.32, beating estimates by $0.09, while revenue rose 14.4% year over year to $11.63 billion. The company also authorized a $20 billion share-repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Visa receiving an average “Buy” rating and an average price target of $413.58 versus its reported share price of $366.31. Several firms recently raised their ratings or price targets to “Strong Buy” or $430.

Advisors Preferred LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 74.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,969 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 4,269 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $3,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KilterHowling LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. KilterHowling LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Visa by 16.7% during the second quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 13,780 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $4,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,967 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 2.4% during the second quarter. Kilter Group LLC now owns 2,304 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 15.8% during the second quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Visa by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 82,078 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $28,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,728 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $366.31 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $373.97. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $352.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $329.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $653.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The company's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.79%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on V. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $430.00 target price (up from $394.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Clear Str upgraded shares of Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $413.58.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total transaction of $20,902,561.84. Following the sale, the insider owned 49,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,125,140.14. The trade was a 53.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,953.50. This represents a 58.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,759 shares of company stock worth $32,375,779. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

About Visa

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.

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