State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 4.6%, owning 584,379 shares worth $204.8 million, making it the fund's 17th largest holding.
• Visa recently reported earnings per share of $2.98 and quarterly revenue of $10.17 billion, both surpassing analysts' expectations, while also announcing a dividend of $0.59 per share.
• Institutional investors own approximately 82.15% of Visa's stock, with recent changes in positions from various hedge funds signaling ongoing interest in the company.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 584,379 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 28,022 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 0.9% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Visa were worth $204,801,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $345.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $633.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $262.84 and a twelve month high of $375.51. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $350.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $347.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.05%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $9,772,810. This trade represents a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,100 shares of company stock worth $27,643,224 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho raised Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Five research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.

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