Farallon Capital Management LLC Acquires 141,036 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 20.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 821,886 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 141,036 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 1.0% of Farallon Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Farallon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $215,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Visa by 787.1% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,619,881 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,296,820,000 after buying an additional 4,099,122 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Visa in the first quarter worth approximately $511,321,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in Visa by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,990,634 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,671,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715,686 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 26,951.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,587,944 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $416,788,000 after buying an additional 1,582,074 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of Visa by 14,306.3% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,500,270 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $390,595,000 after buying an additional 1,489,856 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total value of $2,382,309.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,687.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $288.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $527.86 billion, a PE ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $271.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.47. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.78 and a 1 year high of $293.07.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42. The firm had revenue of $8.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.92 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 51.94% and a net margin of 54.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on V shares. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Visa from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Visa from $335.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Visa from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas upgraded Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $317.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.22.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services.