Prudential PLC Trims Stock Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Prudential PLC lessened its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 191,032 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 19,335 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 0.3% of Prudential PLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Prudential PLC's holdings in Visa were worth $60,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Visa by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 411,210 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth about $69,000. Red Wave Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Visa by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Red Wave Investments LLC now owns 2,817 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Visa by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 155,583 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $42,778,000 after acquiring an additional 28,724 shares during the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total transaction of $3,020,792.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,186.28. The trade was a 94.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,500. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,842,490. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 7.6 %

Shares of Visa stock traded down $25.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $313.46. 13,195,055 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,209,904. The stock has a market capitalization of $582.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.70 and a twelve month high of $366.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $345.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.89.

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 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

V has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $355.84.

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.