Vestcor Inc Reduces Position in Visa Inc. $V

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,190 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 3,456 shares during the period. Visa accounts for approximately 0.7% of Vestcor Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Visa were worth $22,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sonoma Allocations LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the third quarter valued at about $710,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Visa by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241,348 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $438,196,000 after acquiring an additional 21,401 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Visa by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 95,150 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $33,783,000 after acquiring an additional 5,295 shares during the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its position in Visa by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 574,043 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $198,596,000 after acquiring an additional 14,581 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Visa by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 823,262 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $281,045,000 after purchasing an additional 159,906 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 10,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.18, for a total transaction of $3,661,152.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,282,641.18. The trade was a 52.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price target on shares of Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $385.00 price objective on Visa in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $372.00 target price on Visa in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.65.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE:V opened at $317.23 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $329.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $337.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $575.83 billion, a PE ratio of 29.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.78. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $299.00 and a fifty-two week high of $375.51.

Visa (NYSE:V) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit-card processor reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.69 billion. Visa had a net margin of 50.23% and a return on equity of 61.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.75 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.14%.

Visa Company Profile

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.