Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Avity Investment Management Inc.

Avity Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 158,176 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 6,609 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 4.5% of Avity Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Avity Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $55,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of V. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Visa by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $50,378,465,000 after acquiring an additional 7,079,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,345,176 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $12,729,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,926 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Visa by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,816,573 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $7,526,660,000 after acquiring an additional 866,596 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position 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 worth $7,356,614,000 after acquiring an additional 241,057 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Visa by 18.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,785,707 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Macquarie decreased their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $372.80.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total value of $12,875,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,642,333.60. The trade was a 59.84% decrease in their position. The sale 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 that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total transaction of $2,978,899.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $185,576.46. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 121,948 shares of company stock worth $41,546,299. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:V opened at $366.67 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $344.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $335.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $252.70 and a one year high of $371.00. The company has a market cap of $676.56 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Visa's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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