Impax Asset Management Group plc Acquires 11,451 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 65,587 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,451 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Visa were worth $22,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of V. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,877,738,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Visa by 867.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 8,213,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,880,595,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,762 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 29,706.3% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,332,947 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,216,310,000 after acquiring an additional 7,308,345 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 12,497.1% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 3,378,039 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,184,712,000 after acquiring an additional 3,351,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,508,089 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,282,472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,162,953.50. This represents a 58.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 90,759 shares of company stock valued at $32,375,779. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Visa from $387.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Clear Str raised shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $427.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 price target (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.58.

Visa Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:V opened at $366.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $329.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $653.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $373.97.

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

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Visa Profile

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.