Visa Inc. $V is Scharf Investments LLC's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Scharf Investments LLC has reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 4.4%, making Visa its 8th largest position with an investment valued at approximately $168.6 million.
• Visa reported a net revenue of $10.17 billion for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and has shown a year-over-year revenue increase of 14.3%.
• The company has recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.59 per share, reflecting a annualized dividend of $2.36 and a yield of 0.7%.

Scharf Investments LLC decreased its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 474,828 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 21,764 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 4.9% of Scharf Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Scharf Investments LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $168,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,372 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 3,839 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC now owns 301 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

Visa stock opened at $344.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $630.99 billion, a PE ratio of 33.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company's 50 day moving average is $345.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.37.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share 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 period last year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. 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. 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $385.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,102,438.50. The trade was a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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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