Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires 32,645 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 611,908 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,645 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $209,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in V. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC raised its position in Visa by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the second quarter worth about $33,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,219,704.26. The trade was a 40.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 49,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,125,140.14. This trade represents a 53.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 90,759 shares of company stock worth $32,375,779 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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. Evercore set a $350.00 target price on Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $432.00 price objective (up from $412.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $430.00 target price (up from $394.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.58.

Visa Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $371.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $353.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $329.64. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $373.97. The company has a market capitalization of $662.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The company had revenue of $11.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.79%.

Visa 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.