Clarius Group LLC Reduces Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Clarius Group LLC trimmed its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,876 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $6,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Visa by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC now owns 2,291 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Visa by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 6,344 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Visa by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 7,251 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,292,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Visa by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. now owns 7,283 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Capstone Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 872 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on V. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Visa from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $330.00 price target for the company. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $372.80.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 14,813 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.04, for a total value of $5,259,207.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $9,377,671.52. The trade was a 35.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,121,041.50. This represents a 17.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 101,098 shares of company stock worth $36,738,526 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:V opened at $357.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $375.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $351.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $338.19. The stock has a market cap of $660.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.72%.

Visa Company 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.