Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Sells 2,345 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Key Points

• Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 35.2%, selling 2,345 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 4,317 shares valued at approximately $1.51 million.
• Visa reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.98, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.85, and revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, which is up 14.3% year-over-year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with a payout ratio of 23.05%, which will be distributed to shareholders on September 2nd.

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 35.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,317 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 2,345 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $1,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter worth $56,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 price objective (up from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $380.84.

Visa Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE V opened at $342.12 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $254.51 and a 12 month high of $375.51. The stock has a market cap of $631.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $354.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.05%.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total value of $17,099,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,772,810. This trade represents a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 89,913 shares of company stock worth $32,902,432. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.