Visa Inc. $V Shares Purchased by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Visa position by 16.5% in the second quarter, buying 1.09 million additional shares to own 7.71 million shares valued at approximately $2.65 billion. Institutional investors collectively own 82.15% of Visa.
• Analysts remain bullish, with Visa carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $416.62; several firms recently raised targets as high as $460.
• Visa reported quarterly revenue of $11.63 billion and EPS of $3.32, beating estimates, while revenue grew 14.4% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, representing a 0.7% yield.

Amundi grew its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,714,919 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 1,092,315 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 0.6% of Amundi's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Amundi owned about 0.43% of Visa worth $2,646,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 50.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,883 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,733,000 after buying an additional 4,817 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its holdings in Visa by 4.6% during the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,834,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its position in Visa by 16.9% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 13.8% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,521,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on V shares. Clear Str upgraded Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $460.00 price target (up from $435.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Barclays assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $416.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total value of $773,377.80. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Tullier Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total transaction of $20,902,561.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 49,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,125,140.14. The trade was a 53.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 104,537 shares of company stock worth $37,540,837. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:V opened at $374.46 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $668.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.76. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $385.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business's fifty day moving average price is $363.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $333.40.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.79%.

Visa 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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