Alta Advisers Ltd Has $1.81 Million Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,712 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 1.1% of Alta Advisers Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings in Visa were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of V. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 48.5% in 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 during the period. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Visa Stock Performance

Visa stock traded up $3.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $334.49. 8,905,168 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,227,183. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $366.54. The stock has a market cap of $621.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.19 and a two-hundred day simple 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. On average, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total value of $815,313.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,569,094.56. This represents a 34.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,842,490. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on V. Seaport Res Ptn raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.