Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 4.7%, resulting in ownership of 363,997 shares valued at approximately $127.6 million.
• Multiple analysts have reaffirmed their positive outlook on Visa, with price targets as high as $415.00 after it beat quarterly earnings estimates.
• Visa recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, representing a 0.7% yield, with a payout ratio of 23.05%.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lowered its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 363,997 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 18,021 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 0.9% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $127,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $408.00 price objective (up from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed 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. Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.96.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V opened at $350.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business's 50 day moving average price is $348.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $347.38. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $268.23 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The stock has a market cap of $642.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.92.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total value of $697,328.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,102,438.50. This represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,293 shares of company stock valued at $8,114,295 in the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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