Visa Inc. $V is Ethic Inc.'s 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. has increased its stake in Visa Inc. by 5.7%, making it the 10th largest position in Ethic's portfolio, valued at approximately $60 million.
• Visa reported $2.98 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and a revenue increase of 14.3% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share with a 0.7% annual yield, reflecting a payout ratio of 23.05%.

Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,115 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 9,240 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 1.1% of Ethic Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $60,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 82.0% in the second quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $347.34 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $280.78 and a 1 year high of $375.51. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $344.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $347.60. The firm has a market cap of $636.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Visa's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on V shares. Citigroup raised shares of Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $392.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.30, for a total transaction of $3,589,015.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $183,815.10. This represents a 95.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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