Aureus Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Aureus Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 198,279 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,653 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 3.6% of Aureus Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Aureus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $54,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 45,189.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,758,505 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $2,683,101,000 after acquiring an additional 9,736,958 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 4,412.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,072,467 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,119,725,000 after buying an additional 4,166,905 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Visa by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 57,111,843 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $15,702,901,000 after acquiring an additional 3,265,518 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of Visa by 26,951.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,587,944 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $416,788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $268,640,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,687.06. The trade was a 94.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on V shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Visa from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BNP Paribas raised Visa from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Visa from $326.00 to $339.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Visa from $319.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on Visa from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.74.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V stock opened at $315.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.55. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $252.14 and a one year high of $316.37. The company has a market capitalization of $586.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. The firm had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.25%.

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.