Synovus Financial Corp Cuts Stock Position in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp reduced its stake in Visa Inc. by 17.5%, owning 86,276 shares valued at approximately $30.2 million after selling 18,240 shares in the first quarter.
• Visa's stock price increased by 1.6%, with current trading at approximately $349.32 and a market capitalization of $640.23 billion.
• Visa announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.36, with a yield of 0.7%.

Synovus Financial Corp lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,276 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 18,240 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Visa were worth $30,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the first quarter worth $26,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the first quarter worth $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Finally, O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the first quarter worth $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Up 1.6%

Visa stock opened at $349.3180 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $640.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.31 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The stock's fifty day moving average is $347.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.39.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 58.93% and a net margin of 52.16%.Visa's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Citigroup started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $415.00 price objective (up previously from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Visa from $383.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $380.84.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,127 shares of company stock valued at $28,340,553 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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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