Visa (NYSE:V) Shares Down 1.4% on Insider Selling

Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) fell 1.4% during trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $331.00 and last traded at $341.37. 2,958,340 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 7,141,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.33.

Specifically, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total transaction of $3,020,792.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,186.28. This represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

V has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $383.00 price objective (up from $368.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.84.

Visa Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $582.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average is $345.02 and its 200 day moving average is $316.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Visa

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Visa by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 6,344 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,005,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 939 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,935 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Visa by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 7,251 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,292,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Visa

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.