T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Acquires 40,835 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,545,924 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after acquiring an additional 40,835 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 0.19% of Visa worth $1,120,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Visa Stock Up 3.6 %

NYSE V opened at $331.74 on Wednesday. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.70 and a 52 week high of $366.54. 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 company has a market capitalization of $616.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $339.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $321.41.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $383.00 target price (up from $368.00) on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $355.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Visa news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.44, for a total value of $3,020,792.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.