Scharf Investments LLC Reduces Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Scharf Investments LLC lessened its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 496,592 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 13,031 shares during the period. Visa comprises 5.3% of Scharf Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Scharf Investments LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $174,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on V. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup started coverage on Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $372.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of Visa 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 transaction, the insider now owns 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,904,875. This trade represents a 30.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 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 $2,978,899.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $185,576.46. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,098 shares of company stock valued at $36,738,526. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Visa Trading Up 2.3%

V stock opened at $351.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $375.51. The company has a market cap of $648.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.34, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $352.27 and a 200-day moving average of $339.26.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

About Visa

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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