Swiss National Bank Has $1.71 Billion Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 3.4%, owning approximately 4.88 million shares, which represents about 1.2% of its investment portfolio.
• Visa reported earnings of $2.98 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and showing a revenue increase of 14.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, set to be paid on September 2nd, reflecting a 0.7% annual yield.

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,877,500 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 158,500 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 1.2% of Swiss National Bank's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.26% of Visa worth $1,709,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 72.4% in the first quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 27,272 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $9,555,000 after acquiring an additional 11,453 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 2.1% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,685,539 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,342,967,000 after acquiring an additional 140,669 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of Visa by 6.9% in the first quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 19,650 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Accuvest Global Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,346,000. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 6,063 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,125,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Macquarie lifted their target price on Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Visa from $383.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average 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 owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,904,875. This represents a 30.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 75,100 shares of company stock worth $27,643,224. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE V traded up $4.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $336.86. 6,071,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,371,769. The firm has a market capitalization of $621.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.94. 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 52 week low of $258.74 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $352.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $347.13.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

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.