Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 14,831 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 16.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 103,724 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,831 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Visa were worth $37,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. XXEC Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 153,118.8% during the 2nd quarter. XXEC Inc. now owns 186,260,448 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $63,904,097,000 after purchasing an additional 186,138,883 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the second quarter worth about $1,435,262,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 13.0% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 15,720,068 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $5,393,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808,496 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 33.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,486,927 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,356,090,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Visa by 16.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,714,919 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,646,911,000 after buying an additional 1,092,315 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $471.00 price target (up from $416.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Evercore set a $405.00 price objective on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Visa from $475.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on Visa from $430.00 to $444.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $443.35.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.22, for a total value of $2,445,292.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,722.28. This trade represents a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.00, for a total transaction of $789,741.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,784,892. This represents a 9.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,262 shares of company stock worth $11,195,791. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $425.56 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $388.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $759.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.80. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $442.23.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. Visa had a return on equity of 70.50% and a net margin of 51.20%. The company had revenue of $12.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.30%.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc. operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online. The company’s services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.