Sunbelt Securities Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. cut its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,882 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,878 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 0.8% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $7,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arjuna Capital lifted its position in Visa by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 11,851 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa in the third quarter worth about $731,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the third quarter worth about $7,987,000. Chicago Capital LLC boosted its position in Visa by 5.2% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 404,914 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $111,331,000 after buying an additional 20,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its holdings in Visa by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 58,655 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $15,299,000 after buying an additional 4,988 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $668,602.87. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE V opened at $312.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $296.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $581.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.96. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $317.42.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Visa’s payout ratio is 24.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on V shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $318.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Visa from $319.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Compass Point assumed coverage on Visa in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $319.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $321.00 price target (up from $318.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Visa from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.41.

Visa Company 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.