Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor Invests $150.18 Million in Visa Inc. $V

Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 437,724 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock, valued at approximately $150,179,000. Visa makes up 1.2% of Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 200.0% during the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Copos Capital S.a r.l. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on V shares. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $416.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Visa from $412.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Visa from $387.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $413.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 20,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.25, for a total value of $7,135,042.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,162,953.50. This represents a 58.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.00, for a total value of $729,720.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,625,440. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 90,759 shares of company stock valued at $32,375,779 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.1%

V opened at $363.91 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $373.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $649.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $349.37 and its 200 day moving average is $328.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.98 EPS. Research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 22.79%.

Visa announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to purchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.