Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,817,872 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 529,544 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 3.4% of Brown Advisory Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 0.37% of Visa worth $2,389,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,108 shares of company stock worth $36,771,200. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Price Performance

Visa stock traded up $2.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $356.90. 7,295,817 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,839,066. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $252.70 and a 12 month high of $375.51. The stock's fifty day moving average is $356.43 and its 200-day moving average is $342.00. The stock has a market cap of $658.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.92.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.51 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on V shares. Macquarie cut their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 target price for the company. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Five investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.