Park National Corp OH Reduces Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Park National Corp OH cut its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,937 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 7,763 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 1.4% of Park National Corp OH's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Visa were worth $38,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Visa by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after acquiring an additional 7,079,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,345,176 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $12,729,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689,926 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Visa by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,816,573 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $7,526,660,000 after purchasing an additional 866,596 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Visa by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 23,277,622 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $7,356,614,000 after purchasing an additional 241,057 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Visa by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,260,714 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,771,116,000 after buying an additional 2,785,707 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $393.00 price target (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $366.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This trade represents a 17.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $194,931. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 121,948 shares of company stock valued at $41,548,282 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

V traded up $3.03 on Friday, reaching $365.43. The company had a trading volume of 8,725,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,023,744. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $369.15. The company has a market cap of $674.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $342.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $333.16.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.51 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Visa's payout ratio is 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.