Altarock Partners LP Has $298.04 Million Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Altarock Partners LP reduced its position in Visa Inc. by 2.8%, owning 850,412 shares worth approximately $298 million, making Visa its 7th largest investment.
• Visa reported a strong quarterly earnings performance with $2.98 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $2.85, and a revenue of $10.17 billion, up 14.3% year-over-year.
• The company's dividend of $0.59 per share is set to be paid on September 2nd, with a yield of 0.7% and a low payout ratio of 23.05%.

Altarock Partners LP decreased its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 850,412 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 24,500 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 6.0% of Altarock Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Altarock Partners LP's holdings in Visa were worth $298,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Visa in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE V traded down $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $350.10. 4,987,056 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,288,815. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $641.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $347.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $347.44.

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 net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The firm had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The business's revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total value of $697,328.54. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,102,438.50. This represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total value of $17,099,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,772,810. The trade was a 63.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,127 shares of company stock valued at $28,340,553. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.