Visa Inc. $V Stock: Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Stake

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,724 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,831 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Visa were worth $37,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XXEC Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 153,118.8% in the 2nd quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 186,260,448 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $63,904,097,000 after purchasing an additional 186,138,883 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,872,209 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $28,432,626,000 after purchasing an additional 566,194 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 13.0% during the second 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 valued at $5,393,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808,496 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Visa by 3.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,842,842 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,672,655,000 after buying an additional 316,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of Visa by 16.5% during the second 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 during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of V stock opened at $425.56 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $442.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $388.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.16. The company has a market capitalization of $759.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. Visa had a net margin of 51.20% and a return on equity of 70.50%. The company had revenue of $12.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total transaction of $773,377.80. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. This trade represents a 9.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $2,161,236.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 29,262 shares of company stock worth $11,195,791 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Clear Str upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Visa from $387.00 to $404.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Visa from $440.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $466.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $443.35.

About Visa

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.