Marathon Asset Management Ltd Increases Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,721 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 1.5% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Visa were worth $53,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Ballast Inc. grew its position in shares of Visa by 5.8% during the third quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 2,921 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $803,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Heirloom Wealth Management grew its holdings in Visa by 1.7% during the third quarter. Heirloom Wealth Management now owns 68,610 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $18,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 54,638 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 8,983 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in shares of Visa by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 62,980 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $17,316,000 after buying an additional 2,362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business’s 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Up 1.0 %

Visa stock opened at $290.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $276.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $272.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $228.03 and a 52-week high of $293.07. The firm has a market cap of $531.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on V shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $322.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Visa from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Visa from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Visa from $279.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.19.

Visa Company 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.