Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by North Star Asset Management Inc.

North Star Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,808 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,415 shares during the period. Visa comprises approximately 2.0% of North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Visa were worth $39,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV boosted its holdings in Visa by 2.0% in the third quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,930 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Towerpoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,427,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Visa by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC now owns 1,757 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $307,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Visa in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Visa from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Visa from $300.00 to $326.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Visa from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $298.43.

Visa Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE V opened at $272.31 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $216.14 and a 12 month high of $290.96. The company has a market capitalization of $500.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.62.

Visa (NYSE:V) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.55 billion. Visa had a net margin of 53.92% and a return on equity of 50.02%. Visa’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.18 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 23.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,833.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Visa news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total value of $729,271.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,954.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,833.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,965 shares of company stock valued at $5,256,352. Company 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.