Bank of Montreal Can Raises Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Visa by 5.2% in Q3 to 5,134,909 shares, worth about $1.753 billion, making Visa its 24th-largest holding (~0.7% of the fund's assets).
• Visa beat quarterly expectations with $3.17 EPS vs. $3.14 estimated and revenue of $10.90B vs. $10.69B (revenue up 14.6% YoY); analysts have an average Buy rating and a $392.65 price target.
• CEO Ryan McInerney sold 10,485 shares on January 2 for roughly $3.66M, cutting his stake by about 52.7%, while insiders collectively own 0.12% of the stock.

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,134,909 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 255,028 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.7% of Bank of Montreal Can's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.28% of Visa worth $1,752,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.6% in the third quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors increased its position in Visa by 0.9% during the third quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 3,423 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp lifted its holdings in Visa by 2.4% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 1,290 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Define Financial LLC boosted its position in Visa by 4.0% in the third quarter. Define Financial LLC now owns 779 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in Visa by 0.6% in the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,641.18. This trade represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE V opened at $316.03 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $299.00 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $573.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $328.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $337.05.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.69 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 61.74% and a net margin of 50.23%.The firm's revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 25.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $411.00 price objective (up from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Macquarie Infrastructure reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $372.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $392.65.

Visa Company Profile

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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