Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,583 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 2,110 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 2.2% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $45,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverstone Advisors LLC bought a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 182,658 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $57,727,000 after purchasing an additional 30,185 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in Visa by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group increased its stake in Visa by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 74,874 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $23,663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.80.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.41, for a total transaction of $13,395,133.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,991,249.33. The trade was a 59.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value 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. The trade was a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 168,162 shares of company stock worth $58,645,479 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $3.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $370.44. 5,007,822 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,003,538. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $371.00. The stock has a market cap of $683.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $344.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $335.10.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

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

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.