Avalon Trust Co Sells 2,875 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Avalon Trust Co decreased its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 168,576 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,875 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 4.4% of Avalon Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in Visa were worth $59,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. grew its stake in Visa by 4.7% during the second quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 6,244 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,217,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Brogan Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 1,385 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. boosted its position in Visa by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 1,483 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Francis Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Visa by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Francis Financial Inc. now owns 975 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its position in Visa by 2.0% in the second quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 6,151 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.9%

V opened at $335.76 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $299.00 and a 12-month high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $615.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $342.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $348.69.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.15% and a return on equity of 60.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.02, for a total transaction of $697,328.54. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.48, for a total value of $302,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,432.64. The trade was a 26.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,897 shares of company stock worth $8,164,561 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $425.00 price target on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup upgraded Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $410.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $408.00 target price (up from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.00.

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.