Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 140,103 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 10,139 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 0.6% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Visa were worth $50,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of V. John Boyer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 307.7% in the third quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $445.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $403.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $480.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $442.29.

Visa Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $422.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $754.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $387.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $345.66. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $442.23.

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

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is 25.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total transaction of $773,377.80. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. The trade was a 9.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $2,161,236.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,582,059.38. This trade represents a 27.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 29,262 shares of company stock valued at $11,195,791 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Visa

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $490 from $440 and maintained a Buy rating, implying about 15.9% upside from the cited share price. Citigroup recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: Global Payments added Visa’s Intelligent Data Exchange API to its Adaptive Authentication platform. Sharing more transaction data with issuers is intended to reduce false declines and improve digital checkout, supporting the utility of Visa’s data tools. Global Payments expands authentication platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares for about $790,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. She retained 18,404 shares, which may temper concern about the sale as a signal of her outlook. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: A hotter-than-expected October CPI reading could renew inflation and interest-rate concerns, potentially pressuring richly valued growth-oriented stocks, including Visa. CPI and market drivers
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary on Visa’s long-term performance also flags fee-related lawsuits, stablecoin competition and a high valuation as risks that could challenge its record of outperforming the broader market. Visa’s IPO and long-term performance

About Visa

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.