Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Reduces Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. cut its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 366,281 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 8,497 shares during the period. Visa makes up approximately 1.5% of Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $95,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in V. Nadler Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Visa by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth $216,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter worth $3,427,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 10.1% during the third quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $307,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on Visa from $287.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Visa from $300.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $314.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.00.

Insider Activity

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total value of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,833.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total transaction of $729,271.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,365,954.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.36, for a total transaction of $2,298,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,833.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,724 shares of company stock worth $3,278,698. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:V traded up $3.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $276.65. 6,376,783 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,887,064. The firm has a market capitalization of $505.98 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $277.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.37. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.14 and a 12 month high of $290.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The credit-card processor reported $2.51 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%. Visa’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Visa’s payout ratio is 23.24%.

Visa 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.