Visa Inc. $V Stock: M&G PLC Reduces Position

M&G PLC lowered its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 13.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 731,272 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 112,717 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 1.3% of M&G PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. M&G PLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $262,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in V. XXEC Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 153,118.8% in the second quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 186,260,448 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $63,904,097,000 after purchasing an additional 186,138,883 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,435,262,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,720,068 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $5,393,398,000 after buying an additional 1,808,496 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,486,927 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,356,090,000 after buying an additional 1,116,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,714,919 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,646,911,000 after buying an additional 1,092,315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.22, for a total transaction of $2,445,292.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,722.28. This trade represents a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.34, for a total value of $687,690.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $6,778,929.36. This trade represents a 9.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 27,395 shares of company stock valued at $10,406,050 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.0%

V stock opened at $422.46 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $386.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $345.18. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $442.23. The company has a market cap of $753.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 21.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Visa from $403.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Susquehanna set a $480.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Visa from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 target price (up from $445.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $440.82.

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.

Visa traces its roots to BankAmericard, a bank card program launched in California in 1958.