Empire Life Investments Inc. Sells 43,090 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 27%, selling 43,090 shares, while the company remains the 6th largest position in their portfolio valued at approximately $40.8 million.
• Visa recently reported a strong earnings performance, with $2.98 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.85, alongside a revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings for Visa, with a current average price target of $380.84 and a "Moderate Buy" rating from investment analysts.

Empire Life Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 27.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,533 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 43,090 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 2.7% of Empire Life Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $40,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in V. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $415.00 target price (up previously from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $338.81 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $254.51 and a 12-month high of $375.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $625.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $355.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $346.75.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The business had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $17,099,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,772,810. This trade represents a 63.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 89,913 shares of company stock worth $32,902,432. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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