5,409 Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC

Key Points

• Villere ST Denis cut its Visa stake by 5.4%, selling 5,409 shares in the third quarter and retaining 94,529 shares valued at about $34.0 million.
• Visa topped quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 13.2% year over year; it also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.67 to $0.78 per share.
• Analysts remained broadly bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $440.82. Visa’s CEO and general counsel also sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC reduced its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,529 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 5,409 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 3.5% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $33,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in V. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 10,173 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,656,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 38,608 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $13,873,000 after acquiring an additional 3,372 shares during the last quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,916 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $12,187,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 736,352 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $264,593,000 after acquiring an additional 8,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Visa by 0.9% in the third quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,832 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,377,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.22, for a total transaction of $2,445,292.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,315,722.28. This represents a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.34, for a total transaction of $687,690.78. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,778,929.36. This represents a 9.21% 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. Insiders have sold 27,395 shares of company stock worth $10,406,050 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Visa Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $422.46 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $293.89 and a 12-month high of $442.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $386.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $345.18. The company has a market capitalization of $753.84 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.09 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.20% and a return on equity of 70.50%. The business's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.98 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Visa's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

V has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Visa from $387.00 to $404.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $443.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 price target (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $460.00 price target (up from $435.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $440.82.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online.

The company's services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.

Visa traces its roots to BankAmericard, a bank card program launched in California in 1958.

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