Westpac Banking Corp Has $10.27 Million Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Westpac Banking Corp reduced its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 11.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,986 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 4,475 shares during the period. Visa comprises 0.7% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Visa were worth $10,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Saturna Capital Corp raised its holdings in Visa by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 1,869 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $565,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. grew its holdings in Visa by 57.0% during the 1st quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. now owns 47,995 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $14,506,000 after acquiring an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth approximately $131,000. Fortis Capital Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 23,836 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $7,204,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in Visa by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 200,143 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $60,491,000 after acquiring an additional 37,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on V shares. Robert W. Baird set a $412.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.36.

Visa Stock Down 1.3%

Visa stock opened at $355.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $638.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.75. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $365.14. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $335.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $325.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.13 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Visa announced that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total transaction of $3,608,455.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Chris Suh sold 10,639 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.81, for a total value of $3,455,653.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,206,524.32. The trade was a 51.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by 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.