Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Acquired by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, bringing its total ownership to 123,802 shares valued at approximately $43.4 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that Paul D. Fabara and CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold significant portions of their shares, with Fabara leading to a 63.63% decrease in his ownership, which raised concerns about insider confidence.
• Visa's recent earnings report indicated a strong performance with earnings per share of $2.98 versus estimates of $2.85, alongside a revenue increase of 14.3% year-over-year.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,802 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 10,459 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 1.2% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Visa were worth $43,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of V. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,772,810. This trade represents a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 75,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,643,224. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.3%

V opened at $344.44 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.23 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $350.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $347.41. The company has a market capitalization of $631.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The business's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

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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