Visa Inc. $V Stock Position Lifted by Lewis Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa Inc. by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter, owning 4,092 shares valued at approximately $1.45 million.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.98, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.85, with revenue reaching $10.17 billion.
• In addition, Visa announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, reflecting a 0.7% yield and a payout ratio of 23.05%.

Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 74.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,092 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares during the quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $1,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 5.7% during the first quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in Visa by 14.5% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 455,183 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $159,523,000 after buying an additional 57,800 shares in the last quarter. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 5.9% during the first quarter. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,890 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $22,040,000 after buying an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 7.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 14,277,146 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,003,569,000 after buying an additional 955,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. boosted its stake in Visa by 2.9% during the first quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Visa stock opened at $344.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $345.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.37. The company has a market cap of $630.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $268.23 and a 1 year high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. The firm 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on V. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Visa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $385.96.

About Visa

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.