Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. has decreased its stake in Visa Inc. by 2.6% during the first quarter, now holding 518,000 shares valued at approximately $181.5 million after selling 13,616 shares.
• Several research firms have issued buy ratings on Visa, with price targets ranging from $397 to $425, reflecting strong analyst support for the stock.
• Visa recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, representing a 0.7% yield and a payout ratio of 23.05%, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 518,000 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 13,616 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Visa were worth $181,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in V. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on V. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 price objective (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,102,438.50. The trade was a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,127 shares of company stock valued at $28,340,553 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE V opened at $349.3180 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $347.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $347.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $640.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.11, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $265.31 and a 52 week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Visa Company 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.

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