Gradient Investments LLC Sells 23,129 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Gradient Investments LLC lowered its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,825 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 23,129 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $43,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the third quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 3,423 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.4% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 1,290 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Define Financial LLC increased its position in Visa by 4.0% during the third quarter. Define Financial LLC now owns 779 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC increased its position in Visa by 0.6% during the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $829,471.98. The trade was a 19.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. The trade was a 52.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $304.83 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $319.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $333.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $553.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $297.03 and a 52-week high of $375.51.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial set a $372.00 target price on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Daiwa Securities Group raised shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.65.

About Visa

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.