Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 242,027 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 5,130 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.7% of Banco Santander S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Visa were worth $82,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 162,544,006 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $57,711,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,575 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,096,802 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $15,253,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,631 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,034,939,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Visa by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 19,067,558 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,769,936,000 after buying an additional 2,429,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,820,885 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,552,057,000 after buying an additional 145,665 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $316.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $333.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.23. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $299.00 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The firm has a market cap of $574.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.79.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.69 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 61.74% and a net margin of 50.23%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.75 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 25.14%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. The trade was a 52.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. HSBC upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Freedom Capital upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $382.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $391.43.

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.