Visa Inc. $V Stake Raised by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 505,344 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 3,451 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 3.2% of Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Visa were worth $152,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,710 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,704,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Visa by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. now owns 1,598 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC raised its stake in Visa by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC now owns 1,598 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Visa by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 6,096 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Price Performance

V stock opened at $361.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $648.00 billion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $335.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $325.05. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $365.14.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.11 EPS for the current year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,161,284.36. This represents a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total transaction of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Clear Str raised shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. 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. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $387.00 target price (up from $375.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.36.

About Visa

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.