Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Sells 9,536 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Azimuth Capital Investment Management reduced its Visa stake by 11.8%, selling 9,536 shares and retaining 71,235 shares valued at approximately $24.4 million. Institutional investors own 82.15% of Visa.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with Visa holding a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $416.62. Recent targets range from $406 to $450.
• Visa reported quarterly earnings of $3.32 per share and $11.63 billion in revenue, exceeding estimates, while revenue increased 14.4% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, representing a 0.7% yield.

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,235 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 9,536 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 0.8% of Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $24,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 200.0% during the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the second quarter worth about $33,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on V. Weiss Ratings raised Visa from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial set a $406.00 target price on Visa and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Clear Str upgraded Visa to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $420.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $416.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,028 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.35, for a total transaction of $773,377.80. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,018,365.40. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.65, for a total value of $2,230,443.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,760,809.10. This trade represents a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,537 shares of company stock worth $37,540,837. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Visa Stock Down 1.1%

V stock opened at $374.46 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $293.89 and a twelve month high of $385.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $363.63 and a 200 day moving average of $333.27. The firm has a market cap of $668.20 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The business had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. Visa's revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.79%.

Visa Company Profile

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.

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