Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,241 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 6,636 shares during the quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Visa were worth $2,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on V shares. Bank of America upgraded Visa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $382.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $408.00 target price (up from $398.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Macquarie decreased their price target on Visa from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $402.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of Visa 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,608,789.09. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $830,432.64. This trade represents a 26.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 13,557 shares of company stock worth $4,586,137 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $350.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $299.00 and a one year high of $375.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $339.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $343.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $639.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.82.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The business 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 was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

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

About Visa

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.