Farmers Trust Co. Cuts Position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Farmers Trust Co. lowered its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,247 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 526 shares during the period. Visa comprises about 1.5% of Farmers Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Visa were worth $7,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Visa during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Visa by 101.4% in the third quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Visa Stock Performance

NYSE V traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $312.89. 3,332,747 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,846,737. The stock has a market capitalization of $582.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Visa Inc. has a 1 year low of $252.70 and a 1 year high of $321.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $310.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.27.

Visa (NYSE:V) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $9.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. Visa had a net margin of 54.96% and a return on equity of 53.16%. Visa’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Visa Inc. will post 11.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. Visa’s payout ratio is presently 24.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on V shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $325.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on Visa from $319.00 to $347.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Visa from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Visa from $326.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Visa from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Visa presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $329.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.78, for a total value of $2,739,263.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul D. Fabara sold 2,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $668,602.87. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,510,815.18. The trade was a 10.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.