Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $32 Million Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,372 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,250 shares during the period. Visa makes up 0.9% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Visa were worth $31,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arjuna Capital lifted its position in Visa by 0.8% in the second quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 11,851 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at about $731,000. Mechanics Bank Trust Department raised its position in Visa by 8.0% in the second quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 32,460 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Visa by 46.9% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 50,328 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $14,046,000 after purchasing an additional 16,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 404,914 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $111,331,000 after buying an additional 20,023 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $309.67 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $287.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.90. The firm has a market cap of $564.31 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $245.60 and a 1-year high of $312.44.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.13. Visa had a return on equity of 53.16% and a net margin of 54.96%. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 earnings per share. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Visa’s payout ratio is 24.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Compass Point assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $319.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $339.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Visa from $311.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Visa from $319.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,687.06. This trade represents a 94.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.