GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd Decreases Stake in Visa Inc. $V

GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd cut its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 27.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 221,954 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 85,434 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up 10.6% of GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd’s holdings in Visa were worth $76,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 867.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,880,595,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,762 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Visa by 29,706.3% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,216,310,000 after purchasing an additional 7,308,345 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its position in shares of Visa by 12,497.1% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,184,712,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 48.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,282,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,463 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 1.5%

Visa stock opened at $371.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $662.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $353.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $329.64. 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 fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $373.97.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.79%.

Visa announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on V. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price (up from $430.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $406.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $430.00 price target (up from $394.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $413.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total transaction of $20,902,561.84. Following the sale, the insider owned 49,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,125,140.14. This trade represents a 53.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 90,759 shares of company stock valued at $32,375,779. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.