Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 8.3%, owning a total of 36,355 shares valued at approximately $12.74 million.
• Visa's latest quarterly earnings report revealed $2.98 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations by $0.13, with revenue of $10.17 billion, up 14.3% year-over-year.
• Visa announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 23.05%.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,355 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $12,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,522,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,733,000 after acquiring an additional 4,817 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $926,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,796,415 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,045,149,000 after purchasing an additional 164,008 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $350.35. The stock had a trading volume of 4,035,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,490,003. The stock has a market cap of $642.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $348.47 and a 200 day moving average of $347.36. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week 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.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total value of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,507 shares of company stock worth $25,213,475. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $415.00 target price (up from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $383.17.

About Visa

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.