Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,762,253 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 42,613 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for about 1.9% of Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of Visa worth $1,189,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in V. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Visa by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $50,378,465,000 after buying an additional 7,079,706 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,345,176 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $12,729,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689,926 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,171,271,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Visa by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,241,003 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $3,868,646,000 after purchasing an additional 718,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,758,703 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,084,141,000 after purchasing an additional 173,990 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on V shares. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, March 21st. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $393.00 price objective (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $355.84.

Visa Trading Up 2.8 %

Visa stock traded up $9.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $333.69. The company had a trading volume of 6,802,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,274,529. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.70 and a 12-month high of $366.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $342.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $319.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $619.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Visa

In related news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total value of $3,020,792.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $188,186.28. This represents a 94.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.