KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires 29,300 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.3% 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 715,962 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 29,300 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 1.2% of KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Visa were worth $250,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $6,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,883 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Visa by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 4,817 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,005 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $561,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 0.3%

Visa stock traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $352.04. 4,612,992 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,786,416. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $649.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $356.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $344.02.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,121,041.50. The trade was a 17.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,772,810. This trade represents a 63.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,108 shares of company stock worth $36,771,200. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, 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.