Saudi Central Bank Buys 55,453 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Saudi Central Bank increased its Visa stake by 89.1% in the second quarter, adding 55,453 shares and bringing its holdings to 117,677 shares valued at approximately $40.4 million.
• Analysts remain bullish on Visa, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $416.62; several firms recently raised their targets.
• Visa exceeded quarterly expectations with $3.32 in EPS and $11.63 billion in revenue, while insiders sold approximately $37.5 million of stock during the latest quarter.

Saudi Central Bank lifted its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 89.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,677 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 55,453 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank's holdings in Visa were worth $40,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $460.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and issued a $427.00 price target (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $416.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $416.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, insider Tullier Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total value of $20,902,561.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 49,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,125,140.14. This represents a 53.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.65, for a total transaction of $2,230,443.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,760,809.10. The trade was a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 104,537 shares of company stock worth $37,540,837 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE V opened at $374.46 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $363.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $333.27. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $385.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $668.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.76.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 67.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.The firm had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's payout ratio is presently 22.79%.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world's largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa's network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa's product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

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