Visa Inc. $V Shares Sold by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP decreased its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 796,463 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 107,934 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 1.2% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Visa were worth $282,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the first quarter worth $26,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the second quarter worth $28,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 82.0% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Visa Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:V opened at $323.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $590.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $299.00 and a 1 year high of $375.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $341.07 and a 200-day moving average of $348.23.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $10.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.60 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.15% and a return on equity of 60.31%. Visa’s revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 900 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,432.64. This trade represents a 26.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.00, for a total value of $3,575,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 537 shares in the company, valued at $183,117. This represents a 95.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,870 shares of company stock valued at $7,467,233. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on V shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $398.00 target price on Visa and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Macquarie lowered their price target on shares of Visa from $425.00 to $410.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.00.

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.