LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Acquires 72,837 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 61.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,929 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 72,837 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 2.5% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Visa were worth $57,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,522,000 after purchasing an additional 6,883 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,733,000 after buying an additional 4,817 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its holdings in Visa by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 10,941 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,834,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY increased its stake in Visa by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 1,133 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Visa by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 18,367 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,521,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V opened at $349.05 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $330.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $324.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $626.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $365.02.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Visa from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $350.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $397.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,206,524.32. This represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.