Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

Key Points

• IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 2.2%, selling 796 shares and now holds 35,506 shares, representing about 1.5% of its total holdings.
• Visa reported an earnings per share of $2.98 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 14.3% year-over-year revenue growth to $10.17 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, set to be paid on September 2nd, with a current dividend yield of 0.7%.

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd cut its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,506 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 796 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 1.5% of IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings in Visa were worth $12,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 167 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $380.84.

Visa Stock Down 1.9%

V stock opened at $338.81 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $625.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $355.06 and a 200-day moving average of $346.75. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $254.51 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,904,875. This represents a 30.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,913 shares of company stock worth $32,902,432 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Company 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.

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