Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Reduces Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Burns J W & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 2.9% during Q2, now owning 108,122 shares valued at $38.39 million, making Visa its 3rd largest position.
• Visa reported earnings of $2.98 per share for Q2, exceeding estimates, and had revenue of $10.17 billion, a 14.3% increase year-over-year.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets for Visa, with estimates ranging up to $425, and the stock maintains a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,122 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 3,192 shares during the period. Visa comprises 4.7% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY's holdings in Visa were worth $38,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. lifted its stake in Visa by 2.9% during the first quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 0.8% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its stake in Visa by 0.9% during the first quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,372 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 0.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,839 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 11.1% during the first quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 301 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE V traded up $3.00 on Monday, reaching $344.61. The company had a trading volume of 2,988,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,455,237. The firm has a market capitalization of $631.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $268.23 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The company's fifty day moving average is $345.70 and its 200-day moving average is $346.38.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on V shares. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 price target (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho raised Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Visa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $385.96.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 14.53% 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.

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.