Gries Financial LLC Reduces Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Gries Financial LLC reduced its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,011 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 344 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $1,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Price Performance

Visa stock opened at $350.87 on Monday. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $375.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $647.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $356.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $344.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.08. Visa had a return on equity of 56.28% and a net margin of 52.86%. The business had revenue of $9.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,575 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.58, for a total value of $889,868.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,121,041.50. The trade was a 17.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 11,636 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $375.00, for a total value of $4,363,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,904,875. This represents a 30.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 101,108 shares of company stock valued at $36,771,200 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

V has been the subject of several research reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Visa from $395.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Visa from $390.00 to $391.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Visa from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Visa in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.52.

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.