Vestcor Inc Sells 3,456 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc trimmed its Visa stake by 5.0%, selling 3,456 shares and leaving it with 65,190 shares valued at about $22.26 million, roughly 0.7% of Vestcor's portfolio and its 27th largest holding.
• Visa beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.17 EPS versus $3.14 expected and revenue of $10.90 billion (up 14.6% year-over-year), and pays a $0.67 quarterly dividend (annualized $2.68, ~0.8% yield).
• CEO Ryan McInerney sold 10,485 shares in January (reducing his stake by 52.73%); institutional investors own about 82% of Visa and analysts have a consensus "Buy" with a $392.65 target.

Vestcor Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,190 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 3,456 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.7% of Vestcor Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Visa were worth $22,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of V. Sonoma Allocations LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter worth about $710,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241,348 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $438,196,000 after purchasing an additional 21,401 shares during the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Visa by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 95,150 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $33,783,000 after buying an additional 5,295 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in Visa by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 574,043 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $198,596,000 after buying an additional 14,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 24.1% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 823,262 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $281,045,000 after acquiring an additional 159,906 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:V opened at $317.23 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $299.00 and a 12-month high of $375.51. The firm has a market cap of $575.83 billion, a PE ratio of 29.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $329.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $337.25.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. Visa had a return on equity of 61.74% and a net margin of 50.23%.The company had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.75 EPS. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's payout ratio is presently 25.14%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Macquarie Infrastructure restated an "outperform" rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $380.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $392.65.

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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