Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 9.5%, owning 20,348 shares valued at approximately $7.13 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds have also increased their positions in Visa, contributing to institutional investors owning 82.15% of the company’s stock.
• Visa reported a quarterly EPS of $2.76, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue increase of 9.3% year-over-year.

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,348 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $7,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the first quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 101,108 shares of company stock valued at $36,771,200 in the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Macquarie lowered their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $377.16.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE V traded up $1.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $353.12. 6,087,117 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,558,146. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $355.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $345.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $651.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $254.51 and a one year high of $375.51.

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. The firm had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The company's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Visa's payout ratio is 23.72%.

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.