Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is Fayez Sarofim & Co's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co has reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 6.6%, now holding over 3.17 million shares, which accounts for 2.8% of its portfolio.
• Visa Inc. reported a quarterly earnings surprise, with an EPS of $2.98 surpassing estimates, alongside a revenue of $10.17 billion, marking a 14.3% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with a dividend yield of 0.7%, to be paid on September 2nd.

Fayez Sarofim & Co trimmed its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,172,233 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 225,371 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 2.8% of Fayez Sarofim & Co's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned about 0.17% of Visa worth $1,122,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Visa by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,685,539 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,342,967,000 after purchasing an additional 140,669 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in Visa by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 19,650 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,886,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Accuvest Global Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,346,000. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP grew its holdings in Visa by 126.7% during the 1st quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 93,298 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $32,697,000 after acquiring an additional 52,136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,904,875. The trade was a 30.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,643,224 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE V opened at $339.68 on Thursday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $256.31 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $353.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $626.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders 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 is presently 23.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho upgraded Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Five investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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