Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Bought by Metis Global Partners LLC

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Visa Inc. by 11.6%, purchasing an additional 12,942 shares, bringing their total to 124,819 shares valued at approximately $43.74 million.
• Insider trading activity includes General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg and CEO Ryan McInerney selling a combined total of 11,205 shares of Visa, significantly reducing their respective ownership stakes.
• Visa reported quarterly earnings of $2.76 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a 9.3% year-over-year revenue growth to $9.59 billion.

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 124,819 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 12,942 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 1.2% of Metis Global Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $43,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in V. FWL Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Visa by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 6,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 2.9% during the first quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Visa by 0.8% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 872 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headinvest LLC increased its stake in Visa by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Down 0.7%

Visa stock traded down $2.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $348.42. 4,468,097 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,586,093. The company's 50-day moving average is $355.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $345.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $642.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $254.51 and a 52-week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 59.03% and a net margin of 52.16%. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,772,810. This trade represents a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 have sold 89,913 shares of company stock worth $32,902,432 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on V shares. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Macquarie cut their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday. Five equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $379.04.

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.