S Bank Fund Management Ltd Takes Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd has acquired 53,272 shares of Visa Inc., valued at approximately $18.67 million, making it the firm's 3rd largest holding.
• Visa reported a net margin of 52.16% and earnings per share of $2.98 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, to be paid on September 2nd, with a dividend yield of 0.7%.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 53,272 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $18,670,000. Visa comprises approximately 3.5% of S Bank Fund Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $306,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 182,658 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $57,727,000 after purchasing an additional 30,185 shares during the period. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 610,517 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $192,948,000 after purchasing an additional 43,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

V traded up $5.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $342.66. 5,692,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,341,925. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $351.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.19. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $258.74 and a 12 month high of $375.51. The stock has a market cap of $628.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. 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 presently 23.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie boosted their target price on Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup began coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Mizuho upgraded Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $380.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total value of $4,363,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $9,904,875. The trade was a 30.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,100 shares of company stock worth $27,643,224 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently 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.