Stephens Inc. AR Trims Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,789 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 10,917 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Visa were worth $41,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of V. Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth approximately $424,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,635 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,522,000 after buying an additional 6,883 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,811 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,733,000 after buying an additional 4,817 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Visa by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 19,997 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $6,320,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 26,260 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $8,299,000 after buying an additional 3,191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE V opened at $347.71 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock's 50 day moving average is $356.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $342.86. The company has a market capitalization of $641.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.95, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.92. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Visa had a net margin of 52.86% and a return on equity of 56.28%. The company had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.51 earnings per share. Visa's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. The trade was a 17.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,108 shares of company stock worth $36,771,200 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on V shares. Macquarie dropped their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Mizuho upgraded Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $372.84.

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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