Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 55,770 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 53,631 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 0.9% of Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd’s holdings in Visa were worth $19,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Visa by 58.1% in the 1st quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 4,201 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Visa by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $56,455,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group lifted its stake in Visa by 83.9% in the first quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 22,501 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,801,000 after acquiring an additional 10,267 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC now owns 17,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,254,000 after purchasing an additional 5,421 shares during the period. Finally, Pincus Capital Management LP bought a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth about $4,278,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total transaction of $729,720.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total value of $20,902,561.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 49,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,125,140.14. This represents a 53.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 90,759 shares of company stock valued at $32,375,779. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on V shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $412.00 price objective (up from $395.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $387.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Evercore set a $350.00 target price on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.58.

Visa Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $371.09 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $662.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.74. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $373.97. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $353.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $329.61.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. The firm 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%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

About Visa

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.