Visa Inc. $V Stock Holdings Lowered by Searle & CO.

Searle & CO. lowered its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,135 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 1.8% of Searle & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Searle & CO.’s holdings in Visa were worth $7,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. John Boyer Inc. bought a new stake in Visa in the third quarter worth $27,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the second quarter worth $29,000. Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in Visa during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in Visa during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC increased its position in Visa by 307.7% during the third quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Visa this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $490 from $440 and maintained a Buy rating, implying about 15.9% upside from the cited share price. Citigroup recommendations
• Positive Sentiment: Global Payments added Visa’s Intelligent Data Exchange API to its Adaptive Authentication platform. Sharing more transaction data with issuers is intended to reduce false declines and improve digital checkout, supporting the utility of Visa’s data tools. Global Payments expands authentication platform
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares for about $790,000 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. She retained 18,404 shares, which may temper concern about the sale as a signal of her outlook. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: A hotter-than-expected October CPI reading could renew inflation and interest-rate concerns, potentially pressuring richly valued growth-oriented stocks, including Visa. CPI and market drivers
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary on Visa’s long-term performance also flags fee-related lawsuits, stablecoin competition and a high valuation as risks that could challenge its record of outperforming the broader market. Visa’s IPO and long-term performance

Visa Price Performance

V opened at $422.95 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $387.55 and a 200 day moving average of $345.66. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $293.89 and a 52-week high of $442.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $754.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.80.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The credit-card processor reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.04. Visa had a return on equity of 70.50% and a net margin of 51.20%. The company had revenue of $12.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 15.02 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 25.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Julie Rottenberg sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.00, for a total value of $789,741.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,784,892. This represents a 9.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 5,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.22, for a total transaction of $2,445,292.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,722.28. This represents a 27.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 29,262 shares of company stock valued at $11,195,791 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on V. Clear Str raised shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. President Capital lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $411.00 to $474.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Visa from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirty-five have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $442.29.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc. operates a global payments network that connects consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. Its network supports the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payments, including transactions made in person and online. The company’s services include payment processing, fraud prevention, identity and risk management, and money-transfer solutions such as Visa Direct. Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards are issued by participating financial institutions; Visa generally provides the network and related services rather than issuing cards or extending credit directly to consumers.