Gotham Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 22.3%, now holding 51,903 shares valued at approximately $18.19 million.
• Visa reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, with $2.98 earnings per share and $10.17 billion in revenue, surpassing analyst estimates.
• The company's stock has a current consensus target price of $385.96, supported by multiple analysts maintaining a "buy" rating.

Gotham Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 22.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,903 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 14,914 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $18,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Visa during the first quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE:V opened at $343.02 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $348.51 and a 200 day moving average of $347.27. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $628.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.92.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%.The company's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were 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 was Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $385.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total value of $4,363,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,904,875. The trade was a 30.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,293 shares of company stock valued at $8,114,295 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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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