Bell Asset Management Ltd Reduces Holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Bell Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V - Free Report) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,163 shares of the credit-card processor's stock after selling 4,611 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises 2.1% of Bell Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Bell Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Visa were worth $11,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of V. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Visa during the fourth quarter worth $5,171,271,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Visa by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 159,405,343 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $50,378,465,000 after buying an additional 7,079,706 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Visa in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,955,403,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Visa by 17,018.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,949,118 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $1,248,079,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Visa by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,655,250 shares of the credit-card processor's stock worth $10,601,135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772,549 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the company's stock.

Visa Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Visa stock traded down $8.61 during trading on Thursday, reaching $323.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,619,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,263,230. 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 cap of $601.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50-day moving average is $343.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.96. Visa Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.70 and a 52-week high of $366.54.

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Visa (NYSE:V - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Visa's payout ratio is 23.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Visa in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Visa from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Visa from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Visa from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Visa from $360.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Visa currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $355.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Visa

In other Visa news, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 2,572 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $4,054,500. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 143,205 shares of company stock valued at $48,842,490 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.