Visa Inc. $V Shares Acquired by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 300,341 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Visa comprises 0.5% of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Visa were worth $103,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 200.0% during the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the second quarter worth $33,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on V shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $406.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $445.00 target price on Visa and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $432.00 target price (up from $412.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $412.00 price target (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $413.58.

Visa Price Performance

V stock opened at $371.09 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $353.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $329.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $662.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.74. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $293.89 and a 1 year high of $373.97.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 67.68% and a net margin of 50.78%.The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 22.79%.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total value of $20,902,561.84. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 49,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,125,140.14. This trade represents a 53.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total transaction of $7,135,042.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,162,953.50. This trade represents a 58.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 90,759 shares of company stock worth $32,375,779 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.