Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Has $3.39 Million Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,677 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 2.6% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $3,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of V. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa by 11.6% in the first quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,239 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Puff Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 3.7% in the first quarter. Puff Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $334,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE acquired a new stake in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $529,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $362.77, for a total transaction of $3,127,077.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $194,807.49. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.41, for a total value of $13,395,133.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,991,249.33. This trade represents a 59.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 140,448 shares of company stock worth $50,133,659. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Down 5.0%

NYSE:V traded down $18.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $352.75. The stock had a trading volume of 14,176,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,017,457. The business's 50 day moving average is $349.76 and its 200 day moving average is $337.61. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The stock has a market cap of $650.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.56, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on V shares. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Visa from $383.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.80.

Visa Company 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.