Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 2,200 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 285,876 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 0.7% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Visa were worth $86,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Persium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 16.9% during the first quarter. Persium Advisors LLC now owns 2,315 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Financial Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in Visa by 1.5% in the first quarter. Financial Advisory Partners LLC now owns 11,755 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Visa by 61.7% during the 1st quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 190,929 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $57,706,000 after purchasing an additional 72,837 shares during the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,560 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,330,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $484,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $349.05 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $365.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $626.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $330.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $324.86.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.76 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Visa announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $420.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 target price for the company. Seven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $397.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,219,704.26. This represents a 40.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Company 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.