VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys Shares of 512,918 Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems initiated a position in Visa during the second quarter, buying 512,918 shares valued at approximately $176 million. Visa now represents about 1.1% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Visa reported quarterly earnings of $3.32 per share and revenue of $11.63 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue increased 14.4% year over year. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share.
• Analysts remain bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $416.62 versus the reported share price of $374.46; however, company insiders sold more than 104,000 shares in the latest quarter.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 512,918 shares of the credit-card processor's stock, valued at approximately $175,977,000. Visa comprises about 1.1% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. XXEC Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 153,118.8% in the 2nd quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 186,260,448 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $63,904,097,000 after buying an additional 186,138,883 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Visa by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,798,151 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $29,038,140,000 after buying an additional 626,821 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Visa by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $15,411,395,000 after acquiring an additional 388,996 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Visa by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,092,294 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $14,411,480,000 after acquiring an additional 716,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Visa by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,835,336 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $8,359,291,000 after acquiring an additional 398,459 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of V stock opened at $374.46 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $385.57. The company has a market cap of $668.20 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $363.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $333.40.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's payout ratio is currently 22.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $466.00 price objective (up from $412.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $432.00 price objective (up from $412.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $430.00 target price (up from $394.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $416.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Tullier Mahon sold 57,272 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total value of $20,902,561.84. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 49,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,125,140.14. The trade was a 53.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,162,953.50. The trade was a 58.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 104,537 shares of company stock valued at $37,540,837 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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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