First Merchants Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 4.6%, owning 62,897 shares valued at approximately $22.3 million after selling 3,019 shares in the second quarter.
• Visa recently reported earnings of $2.98 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside a quarterly revenue of $10.17 billion, a 14.3% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, with a yield of 0.7%, reflecting a payout ratio of 23.05%.

First Merchants Corp decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,897 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 3,019 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Visa were worth $22,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,082,431 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $56,452,949,000 after buying an additional 1,677,088 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Visa by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,987,013 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,654,189,000 after purchasing an additional 726,299 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 7.2% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 955,392 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Visa by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,675,220 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,442,157,000 after purchasing an additional 434,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Visa by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,979,720 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,847,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,954 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Visa stock opened at $343.63 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $343.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.99. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $275.37 and a twelve month high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $629.79 billion, a PE ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.90.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given 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 was Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.05%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.30, for a total value of $3,589,015.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $183,815.10. This represents a 95.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the 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 completion of 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. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on V. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Visa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $389.00.

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.

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