Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Holdings Reduced by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lessened its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 827,200 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 10,149 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 4.8% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Visa were worth $227,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the third quarter valued at $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 970.0% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 107 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Visa by 211.9% in the second quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Visa from $319.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Visa from $322.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Compass Point started coverage on Visa in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $319.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Visa from $319.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total transaction of $668,602.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.37, for a total transaction of $2,382,309.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at $148,687.06. This trade represents a 94.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Visa Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of V stock traded down $1.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $311.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 396,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,963,716. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $251.61 and a 1-year high of $314.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $289.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $277.58. The company has a market capitalization of $581.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28.

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

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This is an increase from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.25%.

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.