Marathon Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 139,710 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 42,960 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 1.8% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Visa were worth $47,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 82.0% in the second quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Visa by 287.0% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 89 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. HSBC raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $335.00 to $389.00 in a research report on Sunday, December 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up previously from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $398.00 price target on Visa and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup raised shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Macquarie dropped their target price on shares of Visa from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.52.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,608,789.09. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.00, for a total transaction of $3,575,385.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $183,117. This represents a 95.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 13,557 shares of company stock worth $4,586,137 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $353.69 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $299.00 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The stock has a market cap of $644.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.64, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $338.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $343.82.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. Visa had a return on equity of 60.31% and a net margin of 50.15%.The firm had revenue of $10.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.25%.

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.