Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 801,725 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 370.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,018,323 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 801,725 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 0.5% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Visa were worth $279,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arjuna Capital increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.8% during the second quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 11,851 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter valued at $731,000. Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its stake in Visa by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 32,460 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $8,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 5.2% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 9.3% in the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 58,655 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,299,000 after buying an additional 4,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total value of $2,382,309.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,687.06. This trade represents a 94.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V opened at $309.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $564.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.95. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $245.60 and a 52 week high of $312.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. Visa’s revenue 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 year.

Visa Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Visa from $326.00 to $339.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $317.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.74.

About Visa

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.