Flputnam Investment Management Co. Grows Position in Visa Inc. $V

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 270,471 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,668 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 1.4% of Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $92,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 162,544,006 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $57,711,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,575 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 2.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,096,802 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $15,253,245,000 after buying an additional 1,067,631 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,034,939,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 19,067,558 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $6,769,936,000 after acquiring an additional 2,429,996 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 14,277,146 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $5,003,569,000 after acquiring an additional 955,392 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $408.00 price objective (up previously from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $402.52.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of Visa stock opened at $349.45 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $337.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $344.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $636.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $299.00 and a 52 week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.60 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.15% and a return on equity of 60.31%. Visa’s revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.48, for a total value of $302,832.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,432.64. This represents a 26.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total value of $707,919.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,608,789.09. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,175,152 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.