Primecap Management Co. CA Lowers Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 3.87 million shares valued at $1.36 billion.
• Insider selling activity is notable, with Visa's CEO Ryan Mcinerney and insider Paul D. Fabara selling a combined total of 20,266 shares, resulting in significant decreases in their positions.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” for Visa, with numerous upgrades and a price target averaging $380.84.

Primecap Management Co. CA lowered its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,873,280 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 91,500 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 1.1% of Primecap Management Co. CA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.21% of Visa worth $1,357,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. FWL Investment Management LLC grew its position in Visa by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 6,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 872 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Headinvest LLC boosted its position in Visa by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,772,810. This represents a 63.63% decrease in their position. 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 firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 75,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,643,224 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V traded down $7.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $331.98. 8,793,604 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,237,998. The company has a market capitalization of $612.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $257.92 and a 1 year high of $375.51. 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's 50-day moving average is $353.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.87.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup started coverage on Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

About Visa

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.