Boston Partners Lowers Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Boston Partners trimmed its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 7.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 625,946 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 50,156 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Visa were worth $148,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Visa by 8.9% during the second quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,470 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services increased its position in Visa by 83.8% during the second quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 4,359 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares during the period. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. increased its position in Visa by 20.6% during the second quarter. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. now owns 41,000 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $9,737,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the period. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Visa by 5.2% during the second quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,865 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $5,905,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Finally, Bowie Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 49.9% in the second quarter. Bowie Capital Management LLC now owns 158,914 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $37,739,000 after purchasing an additional 52,870 shares during the period. 81.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.14, for a total value of $9,445,600.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 139,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,025,123.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 15,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.01, for a total value of $3,950,158.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,030,321.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.14, for a total value of $9,445,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 139,854 shares in the company, valued at $33,025,123.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,100 shares of company stock valued at $17,368,639. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $249.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $464.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $238.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.12. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.13 and a 12 month high of $250.24.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The credit-card processor reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.56 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 50.13% and a net margin of 52.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 8th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Visa from $296.00 to $293.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Visa from $285.00 to $278.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 30th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Visa from $284.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. UBS Group started coverage on Visa in a report on Friday, October 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, October 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.67.

About Visa

Visa Inc operates as a payments technology company worldwide. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, click to pay; Visa Direct, a real-time payments network; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral B2B cross-border payments network; Visa Treasury as a Service, a cross-border consumer payments business; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.