Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Private Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• Private Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 18.3%, selling 837 shares and holding 3,742 shares now valued at approximately $1.31 million.
• Visa reported earnings of $2.98 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved a revenue of $10.17 billion, marking a 14.3% increase year-over-year.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CEO Ryan Mcinerney selling 8,630 shares, indicating significant changes in management's ownership of the stock.

Private Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,742 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 837 shares during the quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $1,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of V. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $306,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 182,658 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $57,727,000 after purchasing an additional 30,185 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 610,517 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $192,948,000 after purchasing an additional 43,546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:V traded down $6.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $339.09. 1,172,342 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,577,767. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $254.51 and a 12-month high of $375.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $355.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $625.68 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.92.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. Visa's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total transaction of $4,363,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,904,875. The trade was a 30.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,913 shares of company stock valued at $32,902,432 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up previously from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $410.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $380.84.

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.