State of Michigan Retirement System Has $140.73 Million Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its Visa stake by 15.8% in the first quarter, selling 87,600 shares and leaving it with 465,623 shares worth about $140.73 million.
• Visa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.31 beating estimates and revenue of $11.23 billion, up 17.1% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 13.1 EPS for the full year.
• The company also announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, while analysts remain broadly bullish with an average price target of $397.91.

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 465,623 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 87,600 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 0.7% of State of Michigan Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Visa were worth $140,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. NWF Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 37,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $11,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. increased its position in shares of Visa by 1.8% in the first quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 6,969 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Visa by 4.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,848,317 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,465,360,000 after acquiring an additional 213,955 shares in the last quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department raised its holdings in Visa by 2.5% during the first quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 22,865 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,911,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Visa by 1.2% during the first quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,709 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Trading Up 2.3%

Visa stock opened at $357.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $331.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $324.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $640.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $365.02.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler started coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $394.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Visa from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $412.00 price objective on Visa and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $389.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $397.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Visa

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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