Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,419 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,037 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 7,419 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 0.7% of Securian Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $28,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 82.0% in the second quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.48, for a total transaction of $302,832.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,432.64. The trade was a 26.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total transaction of $707,919.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,608,789.09. The trade was a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,247,289. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Visa Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE V opened at $352.08 on Friday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $299.00 and a 1-year 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $339.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $344.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $641.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.81.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 60.31% and a net margin of 50.15%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on V shares. 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. Morgan Stanley set a $398.00 price objective on Visa and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $425.00 target price on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $402.52.

About Visa

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.