Visa Inc. $V Shares Bought by Eastern Bank

Key Points

• Eastern Bank increased its Visa stake by 1.8% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 317,425 shares worth approximately $114.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.15% of Visa.
• Visa insiders have been selling shares, including CEO Ryan McInerney, who sold 5,875 shares, and General Counsel Julie Rottenberg, who sold 1,867 shares. Insiders sold $28.9 million worth of stock over the past 90 days.
• Analysts remain bullish, with Visa carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $425.21. The company also reported quarterly revenue growth of 14.4% and earnings of $3.32 per share, above expectations.

Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 317,425 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 5,692 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 1.7% of Eastern Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Eastern Bank's holdings in Visa were worth $114,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 310,501 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $106,530,000 after acquiring an additional 30,182 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Visa by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 153,432 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $52,629,000 after buying an additional 27,224 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,872,209 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $28,432,626,000 after buying an additional 566,194 shares during the last quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 100.7% in the second quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,479 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $4,968,000 after acquiring an additional 7,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.3% in the second quarter. Marathon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,744 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,431,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.34, for a total transaction of $687,690.78. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,778,929.36. This trade represents a 9.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.81, for a total value of $2,108,008.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,444,582.94. The trade was a 27.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,792 shares of company stock valued at $28,863,319. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Clear Str upgraded Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $460.00 price target (up from $435.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $406.00 price target on Visa and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $425.21.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of Visa stock traded up $7.43 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $368.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,524,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,596,678. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $385.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $369.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $656.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.77.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 67.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.The company had revenue of $11.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.79%.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that operates one of the world's largest electronic payments networks. Through its VisaNet platform, the company facilitates the authorization, clearing and settlement of payment transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments.

Visa provides payment products and services for credit, debit, prepaid and commercial transactions. Its offerings also include digital payment capabilities, tokenization, fraud prevention, risk management and other value-added services designed to support secure electronic commerce and contactless payments.

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