Bailard Inc. Cuts Position in Visa Inc. $V

Bailard Inc. trimmed its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 154,467 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 6,964 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 1.2% of Bailard Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $54,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,975,832 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $56,455,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,343 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,792,246 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $8,463,484,000 after purchasing an additional 193,288 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,114,674 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,475,403,000 after purchasing an additional 530,995 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,458,913 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,253,224,000 after purchasing an additional 399,845 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Visa by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,913,505 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $4,067,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,435 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,679 shares in the company, valued at $829,471.98. This trade represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. This trade represents a 67.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $323.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $581.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.22, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $293.89 and a one year high of $375.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $310.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $326.38.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.75 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 51.68%.The company’s revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit-card processor to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Visa from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Loop Capital started coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $387.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $415.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.25.

Visa 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.