Equitable Trust Co. Acquires 5,063 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 7.6%, owning 71,862 shares worth approximately $25.19 million, making Visa its 12th largest holding.
• Institutional investors collectively own 82.15% of Visa, with various hedge funds independently increasing their stakes during recent quarters.
• Visa's quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.76, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue of $9.59 billion, a 9.3% increase from the previous year.

Equitable Trust Co. raised its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,862 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 5,063 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 1.4% of Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Visa were worth $25,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of V. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Visa by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,522,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 4,817 shares in the last quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Visa by 111.6% during the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 5,964 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 3,146 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,544,870 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,061,024,000 after purchasing an additional 410,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 152,442 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $48,178,000 after purchasing an additional 2,835 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Visa stock traded up $2.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $356.93. 3,915,274 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,404,370. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $254.51 and a twelve month high of $375.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $356.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $345.22. The company has a market cap of $658.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.92.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a net margin of 52.86% and a return on equity of 56.28%. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.51 earnings per share. Visa's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,772,810. The trade was a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,108 shares of company stock worth $36,771,200. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Five research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $375.52.

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.