Thomasville National Bank Increases Stake in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Thomasville National Bank grew its position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V – Get Rating) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,833 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 2.5% of Thomasville National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Visa were worth $21,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in V. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the first quarter valued at $2,717,000. Markel Corp increased its stake in Visa by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 961,105 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $213,144,000 after buying an additional 3,065 shares during the period. AMI Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter worth about $2,323,000. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter worth about $538,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Visa in the 1st quarter worth about $1,496,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 61,721 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.92, for a total transaction of $14,190,892.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,367,191.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 61,721 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.92, for a total transaction of $14,190,892.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,367,191.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 13,394 shares of Visa stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.00, for a total transaction of $2,933,286.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 4,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,003,677. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,312 shares of company stock valued at $33,751,165 in the last three months. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Visa from $225.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Visa from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Visa from $210.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Visa from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Visa from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.11.

Visa Price Performance

Shares of V opened at $217.39 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $223.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.28. The company has a market capitalization of $408.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.97. Visa Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.60 and a fifty-two week high of $234.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Visa (NYSE:V – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The credit-card processor reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.17. Visa had a return on equity of 49.95% and a net margin of 50.28%. The firm had revenue of $7.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. Visa’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. Visa’s payout ratio is 25.17%.

About Visa

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Visa, Inc engages in the provision of digital payment services. It also facilitates global commerce through the transfer of value and information among a global network of consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses, strategic partners, and government entities. It offers debit cards, credit cards, prepaid products, commercial payment solutions, and global automated teller machines (ATMs).