Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd Increases Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,780 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 1,967 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 1.8% of Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Visa were worth $4,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Visa by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $56,455,834,000 after buying an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Visa by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,798,151 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $29,038,140,000 after acquiring an additional 626,821 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 44,042,586 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,411,395,000 after acquiring an additional 388,996 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 41,092,294 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $14,411,480,000 after acquiring an additional 716,218 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Visa by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,835,336 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,359,291,000 after acquiring an additional 398,459 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $366.31 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $352.75 and its 200 day moving average is $329.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $373.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $653.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 67.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.79%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,162,953.50. This trade represents a 58.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 90,759 shares of company stock valued at $32,375,779 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $412.00 price objective (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target (up from $430.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $403.00 price objective (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.58.

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.