Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 519,864 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,538,800 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 519,864 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 0.8% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of Visa worth $2,677,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 970.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 107 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 211.9% in the 2nd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $314.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $585.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.96. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $317.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $298.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.71.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 53.16% and a net margin of 54.96%. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $319.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Visa from $311.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Compass Point assumed coverage on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $319.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Visa from $319.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target on Visa from $300.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $668,602.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Visa

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.