Saratoga Research & Investment Management Reduces Stock Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management cut its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,677 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 8,845 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 2.8% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Saratoga Research & Investment Management's holdings in Visa were worth $55,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Visa in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Visa from $331.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Visa in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $355.84.

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Insider Activity at Visa

In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total value of $2,930,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the business'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 $874,480.00. Following 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. 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.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V traded down $4.67 on Thursday, reaching $341.66. The stock had a trading volume of 4,006,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,144,684. The stock has a market cap of $634.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. Visa Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.70 and a 12-month high of $366.54. The business's 50-day moving average price is $345.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $316.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 54.27% and a return on equity of 54.79%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.79%.

Visa 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.