The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 2.2% in Q1, owning 1,703,623 shares worth approximately $597 million after selling 37,956 shares.
• Recent insider selling includes General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg's sale of 2,027 shares for about $697,328, and CEO Ryan Mcinerney's sale of 8,630 shares worth roughly $3.05 million.
• Visa's recent earnings report revealed earnings per share of $2.98, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter—a 14.3% year-over-year increase.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,703,623 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 37,956 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.09% of Visa worth $597,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,127 shares of company stock worth $28,340,553. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.1%

Visa stock opened at $350.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $348.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $641.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $268.23 and a 12-month high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.84.

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.

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