Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by J. Stern & Co. LLP

J. Stern & Co. LLP cut its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,957 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Visa accounts for 0.4% of J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings in Visa were worth $4,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in V. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total value of $12,875,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at $8,642,333.60. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of V stock opened at $334.49 on Thursday. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year high of $366.54. The firm has a market cap of $621.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $339.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $321.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. On average, analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 23.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on V shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $393.00 target price (up previously from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Visa from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $355.84.

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.