Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,193 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 9,003 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $14,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Visa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,895,015,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Visa by 17,418.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,737,229 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $1,233,338,000 after acquiring an additional 4,710,188 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Visa by 14,306.3% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,500,270 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $390,595,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,856 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Visa by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,895,788 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $4,659,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,238 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Visa by 139.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,185,077 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $568,885,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272,211 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $267.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,413,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,839,605. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.11. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.68 and a 12-month high of $290.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $489.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.95.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 51.23% and a net margin of 53.87%. The business’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on V shares. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Visa from $335.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $304.44.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 25,293 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.15, for a total transaction of $7,009,954.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,959,322.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.55, for a total transaction of $250,474.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $713,950.05. 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 25,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.15, for a total value of $7,009,954.95. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $4,959,322.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.