Premier Fund Managers Ltd trimmed its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,556 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 114,828 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 3.1% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Premier Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in Visa were worth $54,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.6% during the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,587,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.9% during the third quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,142,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. High Note Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 6.8% during the third quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 474 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 2.0% during the third quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 0.9% during the third quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC now owns 3,211 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,096,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Weiss Ratings cut Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Daiwa Securities Group raised Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $370.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "buy" rating and a $387.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $387.25.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Visa
Visa Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE V opened at $318.95 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $310.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $326.87. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $578.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.78.
Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.76 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Visa Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.
Visa declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.
Visa News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:
Visa Profile
(
Free Report)
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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