Canoe Financial LP Increases Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Canoe Financial LP has increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 1.3%, now owning 388,408 shares valued at approximately $137.9 million.
• Analysts have set a positive outlook on Visa, with Jefferies raising the target price to $410 and Mizuho upgrading the rating to "outperform" with a target of $425.
• Visa recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 388,408 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 5,053 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 2.0% of Canoe Financial LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Canoe Financial LP's holdings in Visa were worth $137,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 5.7% during the first quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 14.5% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 455,183 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $159,523,000 after acquiring an additional 57,800 shares during the period. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 5.9% during the first quarter. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,890 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $22,040,000 after acquiring an additional 3,484 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 7.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 14,277,146 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,003,569,000 after acquiring an additional 955,392 shares during the period. Finally, Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE V traded up $3.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $344.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,988,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,455,237. The firm has a market cap of $631.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $268.23 and a twelve month high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company's 50 day moving average price is $345.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $346.38.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The business's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,102,438.50. The trade was a 14.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on V shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Visa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.96.

Visa Company 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.