Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its stake in Visa Inc. by 24.9% during the 1st quarter, owning 258,945 shares worth approximately $90.75 million after selling 86,027 shares.
• Visa reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.98, beating analysts' estimates and marking a 14.3% increase in revenue year-over-year to $10.17 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with an ex-dividend date of August 12th, representing a 0.7% yield and a payout ratio of 23.05%.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 24.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 258,945 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 86,027 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $90,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $306,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 182,658 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $57,727,000 after purchasing an additional 30,185 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 610,517 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $192,948,000 after buying an additional 43,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $342.12 on Tuesday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $254.51 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business's fifty day moving average price is $354.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $346.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $631.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total value of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,772,810. This trade represents a 63.63% 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on V. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Macquarie boosted their target price on Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho upgraded Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $380.84.

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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