Academy Capital Management Increases Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Academy Capital Management lifted its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 860 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Visa makes up about 0.1% of Academy Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Academy Capital Management’s holdings in Visa were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the first quarter worth about $54,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $342.81 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $265.23 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business’s 50 day moving average is $349.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $628.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total transaction of $17,099,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,772,810. This represents a 63.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,100 shares of company stock worth $27,643,224 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on V. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.84.

About Visa

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. 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, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; 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.