Providence Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Providence Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 646 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 220 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Visa during the first quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Visa during the first quarter worth about $56,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 46,214 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total value of $17,099,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,772,810. This represents a 63.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.82, for a total value of $3,053,466.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,001.34. The trade was a 94.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 75,100 shares of company stock worth $27,643,224. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

Visa stock opened at $345.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $350.69 and its 200-day moving average is $347.27. The company has a market cap of $633.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $262.84 and a 12 month high of $375.51.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on V. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Visa from $386.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Visa from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $408.00 price target (up from $396.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.84.

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.