Optas LLC Reduces Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Optas LLC reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 46.2% in Q2, now owning 5,941 shares valued at approximately $2,109,000.
• Visa reported quarterly earnings of $2.98 EPS, surpassing estimates, with revenue increasing by 14.3% year-over-year to $10.17 billion.
• The dividend declared was $0.59 per share, representing an annualized rate of $2.36, with a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Optas LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 46.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,941 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 5,104 shares during the period. Optas LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $2,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of V. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,518,533,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Visa by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,082,431 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $56,452,949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677,088 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Visa by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,979,720 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,847,953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,954 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter worth approximately $373,240,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 14,277,146 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,003,569,000 after purchasing an additional 955,392 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of V opened at $343.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $629.79 billion, a PE ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.90. The company's fifty day moving average is $343.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.99. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 target price (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial decreased their target price 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $389.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.30, for a total value of $3,589,015.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $183,815.10. This trade represents a 95.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,102,438.50. The trade was a 14.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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