Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Stake Lessened by Pacific Center for Financial Services

Pacific Center for Financial Services cut its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,353 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 249 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 0.4% of Pacific Center for Financial Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Pacific Center for Financial Services’ holdings in Visa were worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Visa by 377.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 105 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Trading Down 2.2%

V opened at $358.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $661.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $340.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $330.88. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $369.15.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.57 billion. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 14,813 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.04, for a total transaction of $5,259,207.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,377,671.52. This represents a 35.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total transaction of $3,020,792.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $188,186.28. This represents a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 121,948 shares of company stock worth $41,548,282. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $393.00 price objective (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $330.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $362.38.

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.