Advisory Alpha LLC Sells 2,882 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Advisory Alpha LLC cut its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 57.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,162 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 2,882 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in V. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Visa by 377.3% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 105 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $1.95 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $367.81. The stock had a trading volume of 2,512,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,988,511. The firm's fifty day moving average is $344.15 and its 200 day moving average is $334.49. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $369.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $678.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.51 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,121,041.50. This trade represents a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 14,813 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.04, for a total transaction of $5,259,207.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,377,671.52. The trade was a 35.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,328 shares of company stock worth $38,419,222 over the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Visa in a report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Visa in a research report on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $367.48.

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.