Sepio Capital LP Decreases Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Sepio Capital LP has reduced its position in Visa Inc. by 3.6%, holding 29,196 shares valued at over $10 million after selling 1,096 shares in the first quarter.
• Visa reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.98 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.85, with revenue reaching $10.17 billion—surpassing the anticipated $9.82 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, translating to an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a payout ratio of 23.05%.

Sepio Capital LP decreased its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,196 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,096 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up approximately 0.8% of Sepio Capital LP's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in Visa were worth $10,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:V opened at $343.02 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $348.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $347.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $628.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $268.23 and a 1 year high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $10.17 billion during 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%.Visa's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on V. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $408.00 price objective (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $385.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company'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 owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were 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 directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,293 shares of company stock worth $8,114,295. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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