Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,844 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,156 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 3.7% of LS Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. LS Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $24,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverstone Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth about $306,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Visa by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 182,658 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $57,727,000 after acquiring an additional 30,185 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in Visa by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group raised its position in Visa by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 74,874 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $23,663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of V traded up $3.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $370.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,007,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,003,537. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company's 50-day moving average is $344.98 and its 200-day moving average is $335.10. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $371.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $683.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a PEG 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. Visa's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.51 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.72%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.41, for a total value of $13,395,133.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,991,249.33. This trade represents a 59.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. This trade represents a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 168,162 shares of company stock valued at $58,645,479 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Truist Financial started coverage on Visa in a report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upgraded shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Five investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $372.80.

Visa Profile

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.