Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Lowers Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 40.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,158 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 12,235 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 0.5% of Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc's holdings in Visa were worth $6,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $5,171,271,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 38,416.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,761,375 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,173,271,000 after buying an additional 14,723,050 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Visa by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $50,378,465,000 after buying an additional 7,079,706 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $1,955,403,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 17,018.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,949,118 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,248,079,000 after buying an additional 3,926,049 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 14,813 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.04, for a total transaction of $5,259,207.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $9,377,671.52. This represents a 35.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,328 shares of company stock worth $38,419,222. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Visa Stock Performance

Visa stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $366.12. The stock had a trading volume of 5,221,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,996,385. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $675.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $369.15. The stock's 50 day moving average is $343.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $334.27.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on V. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $367.48.

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.