Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Visa Inc. by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, owning approximately 8.67% of the company, equating to around $56.45 billion in value.
• Visa reported earnings of $2.98 per share in its most recent quarter, surpassing estimates and showcasing a 14.3% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with a payout ratio of 23.05%, set to be paid on September 2nd.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 161,082,431 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 1,677,088 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 1.0% of Vanguard Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.67% of Visa worth $56,452,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Visa by 38,416.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,761,375 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,173,271,000 after purchasing an additional 14,723,050 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Visa by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,771,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,707 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $673,689,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $623,022,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 295.4% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,362,202 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $746,550,000 after acquiring an additional 1,764,781 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Macquarie raised their target price on Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Visa Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of V traded down $7.76 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $331.98. The stock had a trading volume of 8,793,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,237,998. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $353.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $346.87. The company has a market cap of $612.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $257.92 and a 1-year 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.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%. The business's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total transaction of $4,363,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,904,875. The trade was a 30.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,643,224 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.