Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Stake Reduced by Akre Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Akre Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 2.9% during the first quarter, bringing its ownership to approximately 3.2 million shares, which represents about 10.7% of its portfolio.
• Several institutional investors have recently acquired new positions in Visa, contributing to a total of 82.15% of the stock now being owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Visa's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a consensus price target of approximately $380.84, reflecting positive outlooks from multiple research firms on its future performance.

Akre Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,175,240 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 96,500 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 10.7% of Akre Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Akre Capital Management LLC owned 0.17% of Visa worth $1,112,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,904,875. This trade represents a 30.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the 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 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,643,224. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.84.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $344.44 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $265.23 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $631.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $350.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $347.34.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

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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