Value Partners Investments Inc. Sells 54,325 Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Value Partners Investments Inc. reduced its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 75.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,526 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 54,325 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises approximately 0.2% of Value Partners Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Value Partners Investments Inc.'s holdings in Visa were worth $5,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Riverstone Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Visa by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 9,678 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Visa by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 74,874 shares of the credit-card processor's stock valued at $23,663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new stake in Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,163,000. Finally, Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $616,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $355.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Visa news, insider Tullier Kelly Mahon sold 33,741 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.77, for a total transaction of $11,801,589.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,566 shares in the company, valued at $12,789,689.82. This trade represents a 47.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $874,480.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,054,500. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,842,490. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of V traded down $2.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $329.26. The company had a trading volume of 5,640,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,226,254. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.70 and a fifty-two week high of $366.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.71. The stock 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. 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 (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.09. Visa had a return on equity of 54.79% and a net margin of 54.27%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

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

About Visa

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.