Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,692 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Visa comprises 2.2% of Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $46,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of V. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Visa by 0.6% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,355 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $29,242,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $1,576,366,000 after acquiring an additional 411,210 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Visa in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Visa by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 9,137 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $2,512,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Visa by 101.5% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 44,984 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $12,368,000 after purchasing an additional 22,658 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Visa in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $330.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $355.84.

Visa Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE V traded down $2.07 on Friday, hitting $329.26. 5,640,095 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,227,437. The company has a market capitalization of $611.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $340.68 and a 200 day moving average of $320.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $366.54.

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

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 39,350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.20, for a total value of $12,875,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,642,333.60. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.00, for a total transaction of $3,129,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $194,931. This represents a 94.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.