Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 159,921,489 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,622,517 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 0.8% of Vanguard Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.73% of Visa worth $54,593,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the second quarter worth $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new position in Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Bare Financial Services Inc grew its position in Visa by 287.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 89 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $314.13 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $337.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $570.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.79. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $299.00 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.69 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Visa’s payout ratio is 25.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was 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 $8,608,789.09. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total value of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $385.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. HSBC upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $395.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $392.21.

Visa 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.