B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Decreases Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its Visa position by 18.5% in the second quarter, selling 159,952 shares and retaining 702,654 shares valued at approximately $241.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.15% of Visa.
• Visa reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.32 versus the $3.23 consensus and revenue of $11.63 billion, up 14.4% year over year. The company also authorized a $20 billion share buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.
• Despite insider selling totaling $32.4 million in the last quarter, Wall Street remains bullish: Visa has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $413.58, above its reported share price of $366.31.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 702,654 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 159,952 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 2.1% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Visa were worth $241,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of V. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,162,953.50. The trade was 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. Insiders sold a total of 90,759 shares of company stock valued at $32,375,779 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:V opened at $366.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $653.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $373.97. The company's fifty day moving average price is $352.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $329.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Visa announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on V. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $420.00 price target (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $387.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $413.58.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source