Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,823 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 789 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 0.8% of Ascent Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $10,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,111,843 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,702,901,000 after buying an additional 3,265,518 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa by 2.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,610,590 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,833,981,000 after purchasing an additional 345,829 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Visa by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,416,394 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,783,857,000 after purchasing an additional 312,286 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Visa by 1.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,597,969 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $3,188,862,000 after purchasing an additional 123,927 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Visa by 6.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,522,445 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,168,096,000 after purchasing an additional 670,590 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,510,815.18. This trade represents a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,687.06. This represents a 94.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $315.08 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $586.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.95. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.14 and a twelve month high of $316.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $292.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $278.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Visa from $322.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $321.00 price target (up from $318.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Visa from $279.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Visa presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.74.

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.