Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,345,176 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after purchasing an additional 1,689,926 shares during the period. Visa accounts for about 1.0% of Geode Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.17% of Visa worth $12,729,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Visa by 48.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Visa Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE V traded down $6.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $339.60. The company had a trading volume of 6,561,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,628,487. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $316.58. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week 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 stock has a market cap of $630.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Remove Ads

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit-card processor reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Insider Activity at Visa

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 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 value of $2,930,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 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 owns 11,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,500. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,585 shares of company stock worth $45,821,697 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on V. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Visa from $361.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.