Visa Inc. $V Stake Lowered by GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.

Key Points

• GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. has reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 1.7%, retaining approximately 249,764 shares, which makes Visa its largest holding at 10.2% of its investment portfolio.
• Visa reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with earnings per share of $2.98, surpassing expectations of $2.85, alongside a revenue of $10.17 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with payment scheduled for September 2nd, reflecting a notable annualized yield of 0.7%.

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 249,764 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 4,426 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 10.2% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in Visa were worth $87,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the first quarter valued at $54,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V stock opened at $343.99 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $348.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $347.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $630.46 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $265.31 and a 1 year high of $375.51.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho raised Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total value of $697,328.54. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,102,438.50. This represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,127 shares of company stock valued at $28,340,553 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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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