Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 1,742,042 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 73.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 620,160 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,742,042 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 1.1% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $217,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Up 1.8%

Visa stock opened at $342.66 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $347.19. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $258.74 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $628.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.13. Visa had a net margin of 52.16% and a return on equity of 58.93%. The business had revenue of $10.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Visa from $400.00 to $397.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Visa from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.84.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total transaction of $4,363,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,904,875. This trade represents a 30.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total transaction of $3,053,466.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $190,001.34. This trade represents a 94.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 75,100 shares of company stock worth $27,643,224 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.