Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS Trims Position in Visa Inc. $V

Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS lowered its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 11.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,097 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 2,438 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 1.9% of Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS’s holdings in Visa were worth $6,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bare Financial Services Inc increased its position in Visa by 287.0% during the second quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 89 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 82.0% during the second quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,282,641.18. This trade represents a 52.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.48, for a total transaction of $302,832.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,468 shares in the company, valued at $830,432.64. This trade represents a 26.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,247,289 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $382.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $380.00 price objective on Visa in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $425.00 target price on Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $402.52.

Visa Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of V opened at $349.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $340.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $344.14. The stock has a market cap of $637.15 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.81. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $299.00 and a 12 month high of $375.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 60.31% and a net margin of 50.15%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 12th. Visa’s payout ratio is 26.25%.

Visa Company Profile

Visa Inc is a global payments technology company that facilitates electronic funds transfers and digital commerce by connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions and governments. The firm operates one of the world’s largest payment networks, providing processing, authorization, clearing and settlement services for credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. Visa’s network-based model enables partner banks and other issuers to offer branded payment products while Visa focuses on the infrastructure, standards and technologies that move money securely and efficiently around the world.

Visa’s product and service portfolio includes card-based payment products for consumers and businesses, real-time push-payment capabilities, tokenization and authentication services, fraud and risk-management tools, data analytics and APIs for fintech and merchant integration.