Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Visa Inc. $V

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,475 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 4,486 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 0.7% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Visa were worth $12,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of V. Clayton Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 446.2% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 71 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Visa by 200.0% in the third quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Visa by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 75 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Cresta Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Dorato Capital Management acquired a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

NYSE:V opened at $327.17 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $586.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $293.89 and a 52 week high of $375.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $313.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The credit-card processor reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.75 billion. Visa had a net margin of 51.68% and a return on equity of 65.00%. Visa’s revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.76 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 13.09 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.34%.

Visa announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit-card processor to buy up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

V has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $387.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $403.00 price target (up from $391.00) on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $386.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lloyd Carney sold 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.62, for a total transaction of $201,253.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,471.98. This represents a 19.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 31,455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.14, for a total value of $10,699,103.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 15,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,161,284.36. The trade was a 67.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,744 shares of company stock valued at $14,356,010. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About Visa

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.