Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC cut its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Get Rating) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 340,284 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 575 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 4.0% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $60,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $158,000. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 2,585 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the third quarter valued at approximately $417,000. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 3.6% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,680,299 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $298,504,000 after buying an additional 58,804 shares during the period. 81.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

V traded down $2.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $221.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,013,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,531,563. The company has a market capitalization of $417.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $212.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.65. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.60 and a 52-week high of $250.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 25th. The credit-card processor reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.55 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.03% and a return on equity of 48.56%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Visa Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.395 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 15th. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, President Ryan Mcinerney sold 58,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $3,635,566.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Visa news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 25,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.67, for a total value of $5,552,602.09. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,291,707.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Ryan Mcinerney sold 58,197 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total transaction of $3,635,566.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Visa from $257.00 to $241.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 27th. Redburn Partners began coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Tuesday, November 29th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Visa from $262.00 to $261.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Visa from $254.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Visa from $290.00 to $287.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.15.

About Visa

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Visa, Inc engages in the provision of digital payment services. It also facilitates global commerce through the transfer of value and information among a global network of consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, strategic partners, and government entities. It offers debit cards, credit cards, prepaid products, commercial payment solutions, and global automated teller machines (ATMs).