Westpac Banking Corp Sells 1,655 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Westpac Banking Corp reduced its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,331 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,655 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 0.7% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Visa were worth $11,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total transaction of $20,902,561.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 49,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,125,140.14. This represents a 53.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 90,759 shares of company stock valued at $32,375,779 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE V opened at $371.09 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $293.89 and a 12 month high of $373.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $353.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $329.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $662.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.74.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $11.63 billion during 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%.Visa’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current year.

Visa announced that its board has approved 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore set a $350.00 target price on Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Clear Str upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $387.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.58.

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.