Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 4,226 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. has reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 16.8%, selling 4,226 shares, and now holds a total of 20,862 shares valued at approximately $7.31 million.
• CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares for over $3 million, representing a 94% decrease in his ownership, while other insiders have sold a total of 77,127 shares valued at over $28 million in the last 90 days.
• Visa recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with a 0.7% yield, and plans to pay on September 2nd to shareholders of record by August 12th.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 16.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,862 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 4,226 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $7,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter worth about $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the first quarter worth $54,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:V traded down $1.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $348.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,019,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,490,094. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $347.80 and a 200-day moving average of $347.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $639.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.67 and a 12-month high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The company's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on V shares. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho raised shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $9,772,810. The trade was a 63.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,102,438.50. This represents a 14.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,127 shares of company stock worth $28,340,553 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.