Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,850,347 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 454,242 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 2.5% of Clearbridge Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.53% of Visa worth $3,113,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Visa by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $50,378,465,000 after purchasing an additional 7,079,706 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Visa by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,610,942 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $21,064,179,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,977 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Visa by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,655,250 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $10,601,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,772,549 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Visa during the fourth quarter worth about $5,171,271,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Visa by 6.2% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $346.00 to $384.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $393.00 price target (up from $374.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.84.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on V
Insider Transactions at Visa
In other news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total value of $11,801,589.57. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,642,333.60. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,560,961. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Visa Stock Down 1.0 %
Shares of V stock traded down $3.66 on Tuesday, hitting $346.80. The stock had a trading volume of 7,465,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,152,985. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $366.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $644.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.95. 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 is $344.22 and its 200-day moving average is $315.95.
Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. As a group, research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.
Visa Dividend Announcement
The firm 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.79%.
Visa Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles
Before you consider Visa, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Visa wasn't on the list.
While Visa currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Thinking about investing in Meta, Roblox, or Unity? Enter your email to learn what streetwise investors need to know about the metaverse and public markets before making an investment.
Get This Free Report
