Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Purchases 8,344 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 7.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 115,811 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 0.9% of Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Visa were worth $39,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cresta Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $371.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $373.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $353.73 and its 200 day moving average is $329.64. The company has a market cap of $662.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.74.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,625,440. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.99, for a total value of $3,608,455.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,219,704.26. This represents a 40.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 90,759 shares of company stock worth $32,375,779. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on V. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $445.00 target price on shares of Visa and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore set a $350.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Visa from $387.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $420.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $413.58.

Visa Company 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.