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.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Visa
About Visa
(
Free Report)
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.
Read More

Before you consider Visa, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Visa wasn't on the list.
While Visa currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering where to start (or end) with AI stocks? These 10 simple stocks can help investors build long-term wealth as artificial intelligence continues to grow into the future.
Get This Free Report