Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Sells 6,820 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Lockheed Martin Investment Management cut its Visa stake by 31.4% in the third quarter, selling 6,820 shares and retaining 14,880 shares valued at about $5.35 million.
• Visa beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $3.48 and revenue of $12.14 billion; revenue rose 13.2% year over year.
• Visa raised its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.78 per share. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $440.82.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,880 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 6,820 shares during the quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Visa were worth $5,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. XXEC Inc. increased its position in Visa by 153,118.8% during the second quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 186,260,448 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $63,904,097,000 after acquiring an additional 186,138,883 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Visa by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,872,209 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $28,432,626,000 after acquiring an additional 566,194 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 13.0% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,720,068 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,393,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,808,496 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Visa by 3.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,842,842 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,672,655,000 after acquiring an additional 316,559 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Visa by 16.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,714,919 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,646,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092,315 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on V. Clear Str upgraded Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $445.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $460.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $440.82.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $422.46 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $442.23. The stock has a market cap of $753.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.80. The company's 50 day moving average is $386.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $345.18.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.20% and a return on equity of 70.50%. The company's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a positive change from Visa's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total value of $773,377.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $2,161,236.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,582,059.38. This represents a 27.91% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,395 shares of company stock worth $10,406,050. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online.

The company's services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.

Visa traces its roots to BankAmericard, a bank card program launched in California in 1958.

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