Renaissance Group LLC Reduces Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Renaissance Group LLC cut its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 115,926 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 2,982 shares during the quarter. Visa makes up about 1.5% of Renaissance Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Renaissance Group LLC's holdings in Visa were worth $36,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Visa by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 98 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.62, for a total transaction of $815,313.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,569,094.56. This trade represents a 34.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,054,500. This represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock worth $48,842,490. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Visa Trading Up 2.8 %

Visa stock traded up $9.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $333.69. The stock had a trading volume of 6,802,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,281,557. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $619.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $366.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $342.40 and a 200 day moving average of $318.76.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.