Eastover Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Eastover Investment Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, now owning 21,282 shares valued at approximately $7.56 million.
• Visa's shares opened at $337.15 and experienced a quarterly earnings report that beat analysts' expectations, reporting a revenue of $10.17 billion.
• Analysts have varying ratings on Visa, with a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price around $385.96.

Eastover Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,282 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,769 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 3.4% of Eastover Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $7,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of V. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 82.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Visa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $385.96.

Visa Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $337.15 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $272.78 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The company's 50 day moving average is $344.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $617.93 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.92.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.

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