CI Investments Inc. Sells 190,404 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

CI Investments Inc. cut its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 26.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 533,494 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 190,404 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.8% of CI Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $161,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Saturna Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 1,869 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. grew its position in Visa by 57.0% during the 1st quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. now owns 47,995 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $14,506,000 after acquiring an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth $131,000. Fortis Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 23,836 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $7,204,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in Visa by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 200,143 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $60,491,000 after purchasing an additional 37,959 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $389.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $412.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $398.36.

Visa Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of V stock opened at $355.94 on Wednesday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $293.89 and a 1-year high of $365.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $638.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $335.74 and a 200-day moving average of $325.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is 23.34%.

Visa announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 75,581 shares of company stock valued at $25,627,975 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.