National Pension Service Purchases 52,608 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,544,721 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,608 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 0.9% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.14% of Visa worth $662,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 4.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 50,357,747 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $11,582,785,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257,605 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,073,700 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,927,122,000 after purchasing an additional 763,505 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 2.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,229,004 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,272,846,000 after purchasing an additional 374,489 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Visa by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,824,113 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,078,408,000 after purchasing an additional 85,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,524,329 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,725,079,000 after buying an additional 141,566 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

V stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $276.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,383,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,870,554. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market cap of $506.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.95. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $216.14 and a 52-week high of $290.96.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.62 billion. Visa had a net margin of 53.87% and a return on equity of 51.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Visa from $300.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Redburn Atlantic restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $307.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $314.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total transaction of $250,474.95. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $713,950.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total transaction of $250,474.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $713,950.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total transaction of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares in the company, valued at $150,833.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.