Parnassus Investments LLC Acquires 10,803 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Parnassus Investments LLC increased its holdings in Visa Inc. by 4.2%, acquiring an additional 10,803 shares, bringing its total shares to 270,977 valued at approximately $94.97 million.
• Visa's most recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.98, exceeding analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue of $10.17 billion, a 14.3% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share to be paid on September 2nd, which equates to an annualized dividend of $2.36 and a yield of 0.7%.

Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 270,977 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 10,803 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $94,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in V. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V opened at $350.10 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $348.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $347.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $641.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on V. Macquarie increased 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upgraded shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,127 shares of company stock worth $28,340,553 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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