Visa Inc. $V Shares Acquired by Capital World Investors

Key Points

• Capital World Investors increased its stake in Visa by 0.8% in the quarter to 24,792,246 shares (about $8.46 billion), making Visa roughly 1.2% of the fund's portfolio and its 14th-largest holding.
• CEO Ryan McInerney sold 10,485 shares on Jan. 2 for about $3.66 million, reducing his direct ownership by ~52.7% to 9,401 shares; company insiders now own about 0.12% of Visa.
• Visa beat earnings estimates, reporting $3.17 EPS vs. $3.14 and $10.90 billion in revenue (up 14.6% year-over-year); analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $392.65.

Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 193,288 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 1.2% of Capital World Investors' portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Capital World Investors owned 1.35% of Visa worth $8,463,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,883 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 4,817 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY raised its holdings in Visa by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 5.1% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 231,510 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $82,198,000 after acquiring an additional 11,334 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on V. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Macquarie Infrastructure reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $395.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $392.65.

Visa Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $316.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $573.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day moving average price is $328.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $337.05. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $299.00 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. Visa had a return on equity of 61.74% and a net margin of 50.23%.The business had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.75 EPS. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.14%.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world's largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa's network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa's product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.

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