Morningstar Investment Services LLC Sells 24,520 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 56.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,623 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 24,520 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 1.2% of Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $6,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of V. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $410.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $375.52.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $348.90. 4,916,998 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,795,531. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $643.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $356.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $343.82.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. Visa had a net margin of 52.86% and a return on equity of 56.28%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is 23.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $9,772,810. This represents a 63.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. The trade was a 17.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,108 shares of company stock valued at $36,771,200. Company 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.