Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel boosted its Visa stake by 38.3% in the first quarter, adding 29,124 shares and bringing its total to 105,179 shares worth about $31.8 million. Visa now ranks as the firm’s fifth-largest holding.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.31 and revenue of $11.23 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 17.1% year over year, and the company maintained a net margin above 51%.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share. Analysts remain bullish overall, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $398.36.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 38.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,179 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 29,124 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 2.6% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in Visa were worth $31,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hanover Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the first quarter worth about $400,000. Swan Global Investments LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 11.0% in the first quarter. Swan Global Investments LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. AlTi Global Inc. increased its stake in shares of Visa by 5.7% during the first quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 24,441 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $7,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 1.6% during the first quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,992 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,113,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 6.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 3,643 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $361.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $365.14. The company has a market cap of $648.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $335.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $325.05.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.76 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Visa from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $398.36.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock worth $25,627,975 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

About Visa

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world's largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa's network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa's product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.