Guinness Asset Management LTD Boosts Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its holdings in Visa Inc. by 5.3%, owning a total of 148,649 shares worth approximately $52 million at the end of the last reporting period.
• Visa's recent quarterly earnings reported EPS of $2.98, exceeding forecasts, with revenue of $10.17 billion, up 14.3% year-over-year.
• Visa declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, equivalent to an annualized dividend of $2.36, representing a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 148,649 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 7,456 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 1.0% of Guinness Asset Management LTD's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Guinness Asset Management LTD's holdings in Visa were worth $52,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,082,431 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,452,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677,088 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 726,299 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 38,416.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,761,375 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,173,271,000 after buying an additional 14,723,050 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 955,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,321,754 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $4,210,207,000 after buying an additional 1,723,785 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $343.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $629.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $268.23 and a 52 week 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $347.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $347.03.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%.The firm had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company's 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,102,438.50. This represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company'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 approximately $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% 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.

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.

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