Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Stock Position Reduced by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,551,146 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 2,842,428 shares during the quarter. Visa accounts for 1.3% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.68% of Visa worth $3,966,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.6% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $29,242,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Visa by 7.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,733,284 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,576,366,000 after acquiring an additional 411,210 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Visa by 2.8% in the third quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,101 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 3.0% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 19,615 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $5,393,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harber Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter worth $12,114,000. 82.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Visa Price Performance

Shares of V traded down $7.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $339.14. 8,786,063 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,162,846. The stock has a market cap of $630.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $345.14 and a 200-day moving average of $316.58. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.70 and a 1-year 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.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. Analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of Visa 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,569,094.56. The trade was a 34.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,842,490 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $383.00 price target (up previously from $368.00) on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $355.84.

About Visa

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.