Visa Inc. $V Stake Lessened by DnB Asset Management AS

Key Points

• DnB Asset Management AS reduced its stake in Visa by 50.4% in the first quarter, holding approximately 1.7% of the company, which is valued at about $362.97 million.
• Recent insider trading included sales by General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg and insider Paul D. Fabara, with both reporting significant decreases in their stock ownership.
• Visa reported a 14.3% year-over-year revenue increase for the latest quarter, with earnings per share at $2.98, beating analyst expectations.

DnB Asset Management AS cut its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 50.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,035,697 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,050,519 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 1.7% of DnB Asset Management AS's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. DnB Asset Management AS owned 0.06% of Visa worth $362,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the first quarter worth $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,102,438.50. The trade was a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total transaction of $4,363,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,904,875. This trade represents a 30.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,293 shares of company stock valued at $8,114,295 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Price Performance

V opened at $350.35 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $268.23 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $348.56 and a 200-day moving average of $347.38. The company has a market capitalization of $642.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.92.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%.Visa's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.96.

Visa Profile

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.

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