AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 38,403 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lowered its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 17.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 183,627 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 38,403 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Visa were worth $55,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of V. Clayton Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 446.2% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Visa by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $327.78 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $324.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $587.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.77. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $359.66. 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 (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total transaction of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,872 shares in the company, valued at $3,206,524.32. This trade represents a 51.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Visa in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price target on the stock. Evercore set a $350.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 price objective (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $387.78.

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.