Marathon Asset Management Ltd Decreases Position in Visa Inc. $V

Marathon Asset Management Ltd decreased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 23.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 139,710 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 42,960 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 1.8% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Visa were worth $47,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Visa by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 162,544,006 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $57,711,249,000 after buying an additional 1,461,575 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 2.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 43,096,802 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,253,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,631 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,034,939,000. TCI Fund Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. now owns 19,067,558 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $6,769,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429,996 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 14,277,146 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $5,003,569,000 after purchasing an additional 955,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $353.69 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $338.94 and its 200 day moving average is $343.82. The stock has a market cap of $644.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.82. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $299.00 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. Visa had a return on equity of 60.31% and a net margin of 50.15%.The business had revenue of $10.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, HSBC upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $335.00 to $389.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.00, for a total value of $3,575,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,117. This represents a 95.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,608,789.09. This represents a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 13,557 shares of company stock worth $4,586,137 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.