Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its Visa Inc. holdings by 5.0%, now owning 80,802 shares valued at approximately $28.3 million.
• Visa reported earnings of $2.98 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.85, with revenue reaching $10.17 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, representing a 0.7% yield and with a payout ratio of 23.05%.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,802 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 4,238 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Visa were worth $28,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FWL Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 6,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Visa by 2.9% during the first quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,209,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Visa by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 872 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headinvest LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE V traded up $3.43 on Friday, hitting $335.52. The stock had a trading volume of 850,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,610,892. The business's fifty day moving average price is $353.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $346.87. The stock has a market cap of $619.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.94. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $258.74 and a 52-week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 23.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on V. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Macquarie raised their price target on Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,904,875. This trade represents a 30.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 75,100 shares of company stock worth $27,643,224 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.