Visa (NYSE:V) Stock Price Down 1.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Visa's stock fell 1.7% following a downgrade from Erste Group Bank from a buy to a hold rating.
• While the average rating for Visa is currently a Moderate Buy, several analysts have issued both buy and hold ratings with varying target prices.
• CEO Ryan Mcinerney significantly reduced his ownership in Visa by selling over 8,600 shares, which represents a 94.14% decrease in his position.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 1.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Erste Group Bank downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $337.63 and last traded at $338.66. 10,116,742 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 56% from the average session volume of 6,491,053 shares. The stock had previously closed at $344.36.

V has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $408.00 price target (up previously from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total value of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Visa

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in shares of Visa by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 455,183 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $159,523,000 after purchasing an additional 57,800 shares in the last quarter. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC now owns 62,890 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $22,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 955,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Visa by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 1,027 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 1.7%

The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $345.58 and a 200 day moving average of $346.37. The company has a market cap of $620.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 23.05%.

Visa Company 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.

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