Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 20,545 Shares of Visa Inc. $V

Highland Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,929 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 20,545 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for approximately 0.8% of Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $16,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Visa during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sagard Holdings Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 287.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 89 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on V shares. Morgan Stanley set a $398.00 target price on Visa and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Visa to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised shares of Visa from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $382.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $380.00 price target on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $402.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,117. The trade was a 95.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.93, for a total value of $707,919.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,608,789.09. This trade represents a 7.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 24,042 shares of company stock worth $8,175,152 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.0%

V opened at $355.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $646.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $338.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $344.13. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $299.00 and a twelve month high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The credit-card processor reported $2.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.72 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. 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. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.25%.

Visa Profile

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.