Plancorp LLC Increases Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Plancorp LLC increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 20.2%, acquiring an additional 1,094 shares and bringing its total holdings to 6,520 shares valued at about $2.285 million.
• Visa's earnings report showed earnings per share of $2.98, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $10.17 billion, a 14.3% increase from the previous year.
• Recent actions by insiders revealed significant stock sales, with General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg selling 2,027 shares and Paul D. Fabara selling 11,636 shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership positions.

Plancorp LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 20.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,520 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $2,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in V. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE V traded down $7.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $343.02. 5,447,231 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,028,936. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $628.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $348.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $347.19. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $268.23 and a 52 week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given 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 was Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on V. Mizuho upgraded Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $415.00 price target (up from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 price target (up from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated 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 have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.96.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total value of $697,328.54. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,293 shares of company stock valued at $8,114,295 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.