Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Holdings Lowered by NFJ Investment Group LLC

NFJ Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,202 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 5,059 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $10,809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Acorns Advisers LLC lifted its position in Visa by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Acorns Advisers LLC now owns 919 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Finward Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth $824,000. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Visa by 241.6% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. CacheTech Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in Visa by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 612,004 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $193,418,000 after buying an additional 2,345 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:V traded down $2.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $329.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,640,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,231,438. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $341.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $366.54. The firm has a market cap of $611.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. Research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Visa in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $355.84.

Insider Transactions at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,789,689.82. This represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $874,480.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,500. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.