Gradient Investments LLC Sells 3,104 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Gradient Investments LLC cut its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Get Rating) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,447 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 3,104 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $11,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of V. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Visa in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE bought a new stake in Visa in the second quarter valued at $35,000. TD Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Visa in the third quarter worth $43,000. 81.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 61,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.92, for a total value of $14,190,892.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,367,191.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 61,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.92, for a total value of $14,190,892.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,367,191.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Ryan Mcinerney sold 58,197 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.47, for a total value of $3,635,566.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,312 shares of company stock valued at $33,751,165 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:V opened at $217.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $408.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.60 and a 52-week high of $234.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.28.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The credit-card processor reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 49.95% and a net margin of 50.28%. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 8.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on V shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Visa from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Visa from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Visa from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Redburn Partners initiated coverage on Visa in a research note on Tuesday, November 29th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.11.

Visa Company Profile

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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).