Ellsworth Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Visa Inc. $V

Key Points

• Ellsworth Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. by 15.2%, selling 1,439 shares and retaining 8,008 shares valued at approximately $2.8 million.
• Visa's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.98, surpassing expectations and marking a 14.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.7% and a payout ratio of 23.05%.

Ellsworth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,008 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 1,439 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $2,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Visa by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 161,082,431 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $56,452,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677,088 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Visa by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,987,013 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $6,654,189,000 after acquiring an additional 726,299 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Visa by 38,416.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,761,375 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,173,271,000 after acquiring an additional 14,723,050 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Visa by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 14,277,146 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $5,003,569,000 after acquiring an additional 955,392 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Visa by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,321,754 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $4,210,207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,785 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE V traded down $4.16 on Friday, hitting $339.33. The stock had a trading volume of 3,516,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,916,709. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $621.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $347.03 and a 200-day moving average of $346.94.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The business had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $415.00 price objective (up from $405.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Visa from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $359.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $385.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,102,438.50. This trade represents a 14.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.