Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) Position Lessened by Grassi Investment Management

Grassi Investment Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,274 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock after selling 1,684 shares during the quarter. Visa comprises about 2.7% of Grassi Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Visa were worth $31,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Visa during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Visa in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Visa during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Visa during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Visa by 101.4% in the third quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the credit-card processor’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. 82.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on V shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Visa in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Visa from $279.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $339.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Visa from $279.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Visa from $319.00 to $347.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.85.

Visa Stock Performance

Shares of V traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $305.71. The stock had a trading volume of 3,191,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,151,642. Visa Inc. has a 12 month low of $252.70 and a 12 month high of $321.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $312.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $569.50 billion, a PE ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.96.

Visa (NYSE:V) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit-card processor reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.58 by $0.13. The firm 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 11.23 EPS for the current year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Visa’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Visa’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.25%.

Insider Activity at Visa

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

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.