Visa Inc. $V Stock: Philadelphia Trust Co. Lowers Holdings

Philadelphia Trust Co. lowered its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 33.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,258 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 5,236 shares during the period. Philadelphia Trust Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $3,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AMG National Trust Bank grew its stake in shares of Visa by 4.3% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 15,199 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $5,461,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 7.0% during the third quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 14,003 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $5,032,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Visa by 1.0% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 89,966 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,329,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. Montaka Global Pty Ltd raised its position in Visa by 7.2% during the third quarter. Montaka Global Pty Ltd now owns 30,369 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $10,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Visa by 2.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,081 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,700,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on V shares. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $375.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Mizuho set a $440.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Visa from $410.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $442.29.

More Visa News

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $490 from $440 and maintained a Buy rating, implying about 15.9% upside from the cited share price. Citigroup recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: Global Payments added Visa’s Intelligent Data Exchange API to its Adaptive Authentication platform. Sharing more transaction data with issuers is intended to reduce false declines and improve digital checkout, supporting the utility of Visa’s data tools. Global Payments expands authentication platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares for about $790,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. She retained 18,404 shares, which may temper concern about the sale as a signal of her outlook. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: A hotter-than-expected October CPI reading could renew inflation and interest-rate concerns, potentially pressuring richly valued growth-oriented stocks, including Visa. CPI and market drivers
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary on Visa’s long-term performance also flags fee-related lawsuits, stablecoin competition and a high valuation as risks that could challenge its record of outperforming the broader market. Visa’s IPO and long-term performance

Visa Trading Up 0.2%

V stock opened at $422.95 on Wednesday. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $442.23. The stock has a market cap of $754.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $387.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $345.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.20% and a return on equity of 70.50%. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.30%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $2,161,236.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,582,059.38. This represents a 27.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total transaction of $773,377.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,262 shares of company stock worth $11,195,791. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc. operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online. The company’s services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.