Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Baskin Financial Services Inc.

Key Points

• Baskin Financial Services reduced its Visa stake by 2.3% in the third quarter, selling 3,899 shares while retaining 162,731 shares worth approximately $58.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.15% of Visa.
• Analysts remain bullish, with Visa receiving a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $426.12, above its reported trading price of $402.73.
• Visa reported quarterly EPS of $3.32, beating estimates, while revenue rose 14.4% year over year to $11.63 billion. Company insiders sold 78,792 shares worth roughly $28.9 million during the quarter.

Baskin Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,731 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 3,899 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 4.7% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $58,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the second quarter worth $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Robinswood Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. 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 research analyst reports. Argus upped their target price on shares of Visa from $396.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $430.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays began coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $420.00 price target for the company. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on Visa from $375.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $426.12.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, insider Tullier Mahon sold 57,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $364.97, for a total value of $20,902,561.84. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 49,662 shares in the company, valued at $18,125,140.14. The trade was a 53.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.81, for a total value of $2,108,008.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,444,582.94. This represents a 27.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,792 shares of company stock worth $28,863,319. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Visa Stock Performance

V traded up $0.12 on Monday, reaching $402.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,797,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,519,519. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $293.89 and a fifty-two week high of $404.74. The stock has a market cap of $718.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.77. The company's fifty day moving average is $372.73 and its 200 day moving average is $346.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 50.78% and a return on equity of 67.68%. The firm had revenue of $11.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 13.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.79%.

Visa Profile

Visa Inc NYSE: V is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic payments between consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments. Through its VisaNet network, the company authorizes, clears and settles transactions made with Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, while generally not issuing cards, extending credit or setting cardholder account terms.

Visa provides payment products and services for consumer, commercial and government payments, as well as digital commerce and money movement.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.