Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 4,108 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 577,903 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 4,108 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 1.3% of Congress Asset Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $197,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in V. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Bare Financial Services Inc increased its stake in shares of Visa by 287.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 89 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Visa by 82.0% during the second quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $349.45 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $299.00 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The stock has a market cap of $636.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $337.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $344.47.

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

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Visa’s payout ratio is currently 26.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on V shares. Morgan Stanley set a $398.00 price target on shares of Visa and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group set a $425.00 target price on Visa and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Macquarie cut their price target on Visa from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,608,789.09. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.48, for a total transaction of $302,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,175,152. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.